


Lucas' Adventures

by CSM



Series: Adventures in Time Travel [5]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Baby Fic, F/M, Family, Fluff, Season 2 Olicity, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2020-10-05 05:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 75,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20483303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSM/pseuds/CSM
Summary: Post 2x07. One late night in the foundry Oliver finds an abandoned baby, who he later finds out is his biological son, the only thing is the baby seems to think Felicity is his mother, which is impossible. Or is it?aka, Mia Smoak gets tired of her baby brother and sends him to 2013 where their unsuspecting parents find him.Companion piece to Impeccable Genetics.My contribution for the Olicity Summer Sizzle





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I'm back with another cute Olicity kids time travel fic. This time Lucas is the one off on an adventure. This fic ended up MUCH longer than anticipated I have about 2/3 of it written and I hope to have updates every Sunday.
> 
> Special shout out to C for helping and encouraging me to write this monster of a fic.

Oliver walks through the empty club, his phone vibrating in his pocket, he quickly pauses to pull out the device hoping to see Felicity’s smiling face staring back at him. But when he sees his mother’s staring back at him he frowns contemplating if to answer it. He glances down at his phone again and he quickly silences it. He is not avoiding her per se, but she’s been out of prison all of a week and been wanting to discuss QC matters with him, but he’s ashamed to admit that he has not been putting the company first since he took over a few months ago.

He knows that’s not all his mother wants to talk to him about, but avoidance always seems to work best for him. Or so he thinks. 

Recently though he’s been keeping an eye on Felicity, ever since the incident with the Count last week. He knows she was rattled, he was rattled himself. He’d never been so scared in his life and his reaction to her being in danger confused him to say the least.

_ Felicity. _

His thoughts just seem to get back to her no matter what, lately she has been on his mind more than normally. He likes to blame it on the incident with the Count, and that he is just concerned for his friend, but he knows for a fact that is not the case.

He continues to make his way towards the foundry when the sudden sound of a baby's cry rings through the empty club, brings Oliver to a halt. He looks around in confusion, and sure enough on one of the bar tables there is a baby carrier resting in the middle, aloud impatient cry coming from it. 

He wonders briefly if he was hearing things, when a small little arm stretches out from the carrier and a loud cry pierces the quiet club, yet again.

He quickly walks up to the carrier, and sure enough there is a little baby wrapped up in a lightly blue blanket, the name ‘Lucas’ written across it. A loud cry pierces through the large room again, and Oliver startles when blue eyes meet his.

He braces himself for yet another cry, but he is surprised when the baby takes one look at him and smiles widely in return, almost in  _ recognition.  _

The baby,  _ Lucas _ , stretches out both arms to Oliver and begins to whine in earnest. His cheeks are red, little round nose wrinkled as he cries loudly in protests waving his hands at Oliver impatiently.

And Oliver  _ panics _ .

He does the first thing that comes to his mind and pulls his phone out of his pocket hitting the number one on his speed dial. As expected, despite the time of night the call is picked up almost immediately.

“ _ Hello? Oliver?” _

He quickly puts the call on speaker and moves closer to the baby, whose cries have started to get louder. He  _ should _ pick him up, he’s just not sure if he knows  _ how _ .

_ “Oliver? Are you there? Is that a baby? Where are you?” _

Felicity’s voice rings through the tiny speakers, despite the urgency in her voice, it calms him enough to turn his focus on the baby. The  _ baby _ however, on hearing her voice stops mid cry, whimpering softly, his round head moving in the direction of her voice.

“I need your help,” Oliver says slightly strained, his voice low, hoping to not alert the baby. Blue eyes stare back at him curiously, but as Felicity speaks again the baby tilts his head towards her, trying to raise his tiny body, no doubt  _ looking _ for her.

“ _ What? Oliver I can’t hear you, was that a baby I heard?” _

Her voice seems to have a calming effect on the baby as well, not that he blames the kid in the slightest.

“I need you to come to the foundry and bring a blanket.” Oliver replies shortly, leaving no room for argument or more importantly  _ questions _ . 

The moment he ends the call, though he regrets it immediately, the baby begins to cry loudly in protest and he  _ knows _ Felicity will have a few choice words for his briskness. She’s told him a dozen times to learn some manners, the broken coffee machine in his office alone can vouch as to where his lack of manners gets him.

He can’t be bothered, he knows that she will show up regardless of his less than impressive demand, something she will no doubt point out to him.

He also can’t worry about what Felicity will think because right now he has a crying baby on his hands, or in a carrier as the case may be and he has  _ no _ clue how to stop him.

“Hey, stop crying.” He demands, in the same curt tone, but unlike Felicity the baby does  _ not _ listen to him but instead continues to stare at him, reaching out for him and cries loudly in protest.

He hovers over the carrier, staring down at the crying baby contemplating it picking him up might be the best option. The baby kicks and screams little sock covered legs kicking his blanket aside until Oliver sees he’s wearing a mint green overalls with Jupiter in the centre and the quote “I’m a little ball of gas”

Oliver wrinkles his nose, he  _ really _ hopes he does not discover how true  _ that  _ quote is. There is a small little NASA emblem in the corner and he assumes it’s some sort of science pun, Felicity will probably get.

The baby whines loudly reminding Oliver that yes he is still there. Red cheeks, and clenched fist wave in the air practically begging for Oliver. 

The last of the small blanket is kicked off and Oliver grabs it before it hits the floor. He looks down at the baby and spies one of those things he’s always seen babies suck on but on the end of it a full fledge stuffed dog with big floppy ears. Oliver frowns but cautiously picks it up and not so gently shoves it in the babies mouth. He waits on bated breath to see if Lucas spits it out, but the baby sucks eagerly on it. His little hand reaches up and grabs Oliver’s pinky much to Oliver’s surprise.

That’s how Felicity finds him a few minutes later, Oliver frozen over the quiet infant, hand stretched out as the holding onto his pinky.

“Oliver? What’s the emergency and why on earth did you want me to bring a blanket?” Felicity voice calls out slightly frantic as she makes her way towards him, the sound of heels hitting the concrete floor is absent as she has slipped on one of her more comfortable boots. “I really hope you aren’t avoiding your mother and sleeping in the arrow cave...oh hello.”

Felicity stops short her eyes widening when she sees the baby nestled in the carrier. She slaps Oliver lightly on the shoulder, “What did you do?.....well I guess the more appropriate question is  _ who _ ?  _ Oliver _ ?”

Oliver huffs, annoyed at her insinuation, and is just about to snap back at her when a loud whine catches both their attention. The turn back just in time to see the pacifier resting on the baby’s chest and the baby whining loudly in protest.

“I just got him to quiet down!” Oliver hisses at her annoyed, but Felicity is too focused on the baby to listen to him.

The baby does not cry like before but instead reaches out for Felicity even more insistently than with Oliver, whining softly.

“He’s been doing that too,” Oliver offers slightly uncomfortable, the baby’s eyes still trained on Felicity.

“You didn’t pick him up?” Felicity asks in exasperation her hands already going to small clasp that is holding the baby in place.

The moment her hands reach into the carrier Lucas goes crazy he tries to push his little body towards her, grabbing one of her hands and pulling himself into a sitting position. His eyes are dry and he just looks  _ excited _ to see her, and yet again Oliver finds himself relating to a baby. 

“ _ Ma!” _ The baby squeals reaching for her eagerly just as Felicity’s about to hoist the baby out of carrier. She pauses in surprise looking across at Oliver in alarm.

“He didn’t do  _ that _ earlier,” Oliver replies his eyes equally wide in surprise.

“Well I’m clearly not his...  _ that _ ,” Felicity insists she has the baby in her arms now trying to hold him slightly away from her but the baby snuggles up against her babbling happily in her arms. 

He clearly didn’t get the memo.

“Hey kid,” she greets him dryly, the baby giggles and slaps her face in greeting.

“Lucas.” Oliver corrects looking at the pair curiously.

“You  _ named _ him?” Felicity asks incredulously, “who is he Oliver, is he yours?”

“I don’t know,” Oliver insists holding up the blanket to show her the name etched the soft fleece.

“Well he’s clearly well loved, no one would get a custom made blanket for a baby they didn’t want,” Felicity replies slightly put out. She huffs though when Lucas tries to stick his fingers in her mouth.

Oliver grins the baby is clearly smitten with her already, “are you like some kind of baby whisperer?”

To his surprise though Felicity only glares at him, but it’s not as effective as it usually is when she has three chubby little fingers inside her mouth and a round face little baby fighting for her attention. “Is that why you called  _ me _ instead of the police? Because I have  _ boob _ s you think I will be good with babies?”

Oliver pauses at her accusatory words, he is unable to stop his eyes from lingering on said boobs, but luckily Felicity does not notice as Lucas is patting her face eagerly trying to get her attention. Oliver can’t tell her that the reason he called her is because she was the  _ first  _ person that came to his mind.

“You are good at  _ finding  _ people,” Oliver speaks finally finding his own voice, taking a step towards her and finally coming in the babies line of sight.

As soon as Lucas sees him the baby breaks out in a wide smile, using one hand to grip Felicity’s jacket and the other to reach for Oliver.

“Hey,” Oliver says slightly uncomfortable at the attention.

Felicity giggles at Oliver’s less than stellar greeting and to their surprise Lucas follows suit and laughs just like she did. Felicity laughed wholeheartedly in return, looking at Oliver in amusement, “he’s not a bomb Oliver he’s not going to explode.”

“Do you know how to find who he belongs to?” Oliver asks curtly instead, taking a step away from the baby, ignoring the matching crestfallen expression on both their faces.

“I can take his DNA and fingerprints and run it through some hospital databases in Starling,” Felicity replies curtly, she tries to put the baby back in the carrier but Lucas is having none of that and grips her jacket tightly. She rolls her eyes in exasperation but Oliver can see the corners of her lips tugging up into a smile. “Have you entered the possibility he could be  _ yours _ ?”

“What? No why would he?” Oliver stutters looking back at the deep blue eyes that are staring at him owlish, it’s slightly unnerving to say the least

“It’s  _ your _ club Oliver,” Felicity points, still with that tone of exasperation she seems to have taken with only him lately. 

Granted after the incident with the Count and the way he kept his distance from her while still  _ hovering _ he kind of deserves the curt response. 

“Come on Lucas let’s go see what toys Oliver has,” Felicity says to the baby bouncing him in her arms and earning a loud giggle in response. She clearly has given up on talking to Oliver. 

“I don’t feel comfortable with that,” Oliver admits as he grabs the carrier and follows Felicity dutifully. 

“Oliver is afraid you’re going to steal his bow, Lucas,” Felicity addresses the baby who giggles in response, “I know he doesn’t know how to share. We’re still working on it,”

“Felicity,” Oliver grumbles, but he does not get to continue when she walks up to him and deposits the baby in his arms.

“You need to hold him while I set up the machines,” Felicity explains already walking away.

Lucas seems put out that she just walks away from him but then he turns to Oliver and smiles. He raises his chubby little hand and pats Oliver’s face giggling when he feels the coarse hairs of Oliver’s beard on his fingers.

He brushes his hand against Oliver’s beard again and breaks out into loud giggles again, so much that his entire head almost throws back in laughter. 

He continues the gesture and each time laughs louder than the last, that is until Oliver grabs Lucas’ little wrist and prevents him from touching his beard. Lucas face immediately crumbles, big fat tears rolling down his cheeks as he looks at Oliver with displeasure.

“Oh don’t be a grump, let the cute baby play with your face,” Felicity admonishes as she walks up to the pair, when she turns to Lucas she smiles widely earning a large dimple smile in return and Oliver can literally see Felicity swoon at the baby. 

She sees his knowing smirk, and she huffs at being caught swooning over the baby, “shut up. At least I didn’t make him cry. Open up Lucas.”

To her surprise the baby opens his mouth immediately at the request but then wrinkles his face in disgust when she swaps his cheek.

“Yes, she tricked you. She does that from time to time,” Oliver says to the baby seriously, earning a small little baby giggle in return. 

“I gave you pain killers because you were being an idiot and wanted to stitch you leg up without them. It was not tricking you, it was  _ helping  _ you,” Felicity remarks no bite in her tone.

But when he looks across at Felicity to see her trying to hide her smile behind a folder. She spins around before he can question her and quickly starts up one of her machines. Once she’s finished she beckons him closer.

She holds out her hand to the Lucas and smiles brightly when the baby practically grabs at her to take him. “Well hello, okay so we’re going to play a game, Lucas.”

“Felicity, I don’t want him by any of the arrows,” Oliver grumbles wondering why she insists on taking the baby by his weapons.

“I was talking about the fingerprint scanner,” Felicity remarks dryly and this time he knows she glaring at him without him having to look.

Sure enough she bypasses his arrows and moves to one of her other machines, she takes the babies tiny hand cooing slightly before she wipes it clean and then presses it gently on the screen. Lucas though takes that as an invitation and slaps it hard.

“No, Lucas you’re gonna break it,” Felicity remarks sternly. 

To both her and Oliver’s horror though Lucas frowns in displeasure and  _ slaps  _ Felicity in the face at her tone.

“Lucas! No!” Oliver practically roars as he takes a few quick steps towards them.

At his tone though the baby begins to bawl in earnest, his head buried in Felicity’s neck as he cries, clearly frightened. 

“Oliver! He is a baby! Don’t yell at him like that, you scared him,” Felicity reprimands as she rubs the baby’s back soothingly. “I know he’s a big meanie.”

“He should not slap you, Felicity!” Oliver protests,looking at the crying baby warily. 

“He is a  _ baby _ , Oliver. He does not know better and surely you scaring him half to death with your Arrow voice is not the way to go!” Felicity replies just as hotly. She presses a soft kiss to the baby’s head and whispers something softly to him, his cries only now mere whimpers.

Now  _ he _ is jealous of a baby.

“Well his parents should teach him better manners,” Oliver replies petulantly and he knows by the look she gives him that  _ he _ is being childish.

The computers beep suddenly and Felicity, turns to look at him, “so are we really going to ignore the elephant in the room?”

“What do you mean?” He asks playing naive, but of course she sees right through it and scoffs loudly as she walks around the small area bouncing the still whimpering baby.

“You refuse to acknowledge the fact that he could be yours?” She counters not bothering to beat around the bush.

She tugs the baby’s hoodie over his head and preens in delight when she sees the little ears attached to the head. She runs her hands along his back whispering to him softly.

“There is no way Felicity, he looks like what a year old? I was not even home yet then,” Oliver insists.

“Okay, try 7 months at most,” Felicity remarks dryly, “and if my math is right, which is always is, you would have met his mother sometime in fall last year. So?”

Oliver grunts at her words, “still nothing, well Helena but that’s not possible because we saw her earlier this year. Look I’m telling you it’s not my kid. Someone probably just dropped him here hoping someone would take him to the police station, rather than going there themselves.”

“That’s awful,” Felicity murmurs holding the baby closer to her chest protectively, and Oliver feels  _ his _ chest tighten at her almost instant attachment to the baby. “He could have been kidnapped as well, or someone stole a car and didn’t realize he was in the car so just  _ dropped  _ him off, like they were delivering a package.” 

“Horrible.” Oliver agrees, he may not want anything to do with the baby, but no one should be treated like that. Although, the baby in question does not seem as though he was not hurt in anyway, or malnourished. In fact the baby seems perfectly content with both of them. Oliver suspect stranger danger is too young to comprehend at this age, luckily for them.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Felicity suddenly protests loudly and Oliver spins around just in time to see Lucas do a nose dive  _ into _ Felicity’s loose tank top. His little hand is clutching the v of her top yanking down at it while his head moved down in the direction of her... _ oh _ .

“Is he...?” Oliver trails off, his ears pinking up in embarrassment as he tries to not look at the curve of creamy skin the baby inadvertently exposed to him.

“No Oliver, he is trying to check me out!” Felicity replies hotly and she wrestles with the insistent baby. Eventually, she shifts him to one side and zips up her jacket all the way to her collarbones. “He’s hungry!”

Evidently Lucas is less than impressed with her when he gives her a look that Oliver can describe as displeasure. He then releasing a long suffering whine, “ _ Ma…” _

It’s almost as though Lucas thinks  _ Felicity _ can give him what he needs.

“Can you…” Oliver trails off wishing almost immediately that he could take it back.

“No, Oliver. I don’t have magical boobs! I can’t just make  _ milk _ !” Felicity hisses our hotly, her cheeks are equally red now and Oliver can tell she is slightly embarrassed, “we need to go to the store and get him some things. Formula, bottles, diapers, some warmer clothes, baby wipes.”

“At least we have a car seat,” Oliver offers weakly, drawing a blank on all the things she just suggested.

“These searches may take a few hours, in the meantime you can go to the store and get all the things he needs,” Felicity replies as she rubs Lucas back, the baby still whining softly.

“You’re not coming with me?” Oliver asks alarmed not even sure what kind of clothes a baby needs much less diapers or  _ food _ . He knows enough that at different ages they need different kinds of foods and clothes but he has no clue what age Lucas is to begin with.

“I don’t think it’s really a good idea for Oliver Queen to be seen with a baby  _ and _ a strange woman  _ and _ buying baby stuff. We don’t want the tabloids on you, especially when we don’t even know who he belongs to. That’s a can of worms you aren’t ready for."

She’s right, of course she is, but the thought of doing it all alone terrifies him. He hears a small whine and looks down at her to see Lucas calling out to him, little arms outstretched. It’s the first time the baby is reaching for  _ him _ since Felicity arrived, she does not give Oliver time to contemplate what to do, but instead she deposits the baby into his arms and Lucas giggles loudly nuzzling Oliver’s chest in glee. 

Oliver can’t help the way his chest tightens at the baby’s soft gesture. It’s been awhile since someone has just  _ snuggled _ up to him willingly, even if that’s more on him, Lucas seems quite content to just rest his head on Oliver’s chest. It’s unnerving to Oliver to say the least. 

He  _ cannot _ get attached to this baby. He will not.

He looks across just in time to see Felicity staring at both of them with something Oliver can only describe as deep-seated affection. But, the moment she sees him looking at her she quickly turns away and grabs a nearby pen and paper. 

When she turns around the flush inner cheeks are gone and she looks at Lucas instead of Oliver with a large smile in greeting. “I made a list of stuff we... you need now I have no clue what kinds to get, but I think he might be 7 maybe 8 months old? But look for those numbers for some kind of direction.”

Oliver falters at her correction, he’s not stupid, he knows there is a possibility that Lucas might be his. The first month he was home, he and Tommy may have had a few too wild nights. His attempt at convincing his friend that he was back. There is a very strong possibility that this baby  _ could _ be his. He is just  _ not _ in the right place for a baby, he can barely take care of himself. He throws on a hood every night and goes after hardened criminals, that is  _ not _ father material. 

“Hi Lucas,” Felicity greets warmly, her eyes are dancing in delight, her voice going higher than normal. She’s using that baby voice all adults use with babies and Oliver is pretty sure she’s hooked on the kid already. 

Lucas babbles back to her in return and reaches out to her, the pitch of his babbles increasing when she takes him. His little sigh of content when he is back in her arms slightly unnerving.

Once again he is jealous of a maybe-7 month old and Oliver is annoyed at himself for even thinking about it. He plucks the paper with the list of items he needs. He does not spare either of them a glance as he grabs his jacket off a nearby table, “I’ll be back.”

* * *

Oliver walks back into the empty club his hand filled with 7/11 bags. Trying to find things for a baby late Sunday night in a convenience store was just not the best plan. He got everything on the  _ modified  _ list. By the time he jumped on his bike Felicity had already sent him five messages giving him a detailed explanation of what kind of formula and other things to get. 

Apparently she can add googling and taking care of a baby at the same time as her list of multitasking duties.

Despite all her help though, the trip was still less than ideal. Oliver just hopes he got  _ something  _ useable. 

He walks into the foundry greeted by Felicity’s loud chatter and Lucas’ excited gurgles. He stops at the foot of the stairs, watching the way Felicity bounces her knees and Lucas who is perched on her lap giggles loudly with each shake of her legs.

She throws her head back in laughter, clearly exaggerating for the baby, and he cant help but grin when Lucas follows suit and throws back his entire body to follow her laughing just as loudly. She has a firm grip on his back, but the baby is still laughing loudly in return, which only sets Felicity off more.

“I know he can be a little rough around the edges,” Felicity suddenly speaks to the baby softly, the hairs on Oliver’s neck standing on edge at her tone, “But with time you’ll warm up to him. I did and in time you will grow to…”

“Hey!” Oliver calls out suddenly, not ready to hear what she has to say. His boots slap against the concrete startling both of them.

Lucas on seeing him grins excitedly in response, little hands reaching out for Oliver. It’s weird to say the least, Oliver just does not understand why the kid is so attached to him already,  _ no _ one warms up to him quickly,Felicity said so herself.

“I guess you knew already, huh?” Felicity murmurs softly to the baby placing a kiss on his forehead. 

“What’s with that look?” Oliver asks her suddenly as he tosses all the bags onto the table. 

He goes over her previous words, and her subdue expression, and he just  _ knows _ what she’s about to tell him.

“ _ Oliver.” _

He holds onto the table and collapses onto the chair, Felicity already up on her feet making her way towards him. The baby none the wiser at the inner turmoil Oliver is currently going through. Lucas only smiles at Oliver in greeting little hand reaching for him, but Oliver is  _ numb. _

“You have to say it,” Oliver whispers hoarsely to Felicity.

Felicity takes a step towards him, her knees brushing lightly against hers and she shifts Lucas to her other arm, while she places a hand on Oliver’s shoulders, “Lucas is your son, Oliver.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh WOW! Never in a million years did I expect THIS kind of response for this story. Thank you all so much for your comments, your tweets and kudos! I'm so glad everyone is loving this little adventure.

_ His son _ .

He has no words, but then a small hand pats him on the cheek. He looks across at Lucas in surprise, and suddenly the baby throws himself into Oliver’s arms startling both of adults. It’s only Oliver’s quick reflexes that allows Oliver to catch Lucas before something terrible happens.

However, once the baby is in his arms, Lucas reaches up and pats Oliver’s cheek and then nuzzles Oliver’s chest.

“I know this is absolutely terrifying for you.” Felicity whispers softly. She gently squeezes his shoulder in comfort, but for the first time it does nothing to quell his nerves. “If it’s any consolation, Lucas  _ clearly _ adores you.” 

_ “ _ Why, though?” Oliver chokes out, still unable to wrap his mind around the fact that Lucas is his, or more so why Lucas seems to  _ recognize _ Oliver. The baby has quieted down a lot, it's almost though he senses the seriousness of the situation. Or, more specifically, he seems to realize that Oliver needs some kind of comfort.

“I don’t know, maybe babies just know these things.” Felicity suggests with a shrug of her shoulders. She gently brushes the soft hairs on Lucas’ head absentmindedly, the baby then looks up at her and gives her a two tooth smile. A smile just like his father’s that makes her go weak at the knees. “Damn those Queen dimples.”

When Oliver looks at her questioningly, she blushes and quickly walks away and towards the bag of baby things, “I know this is a lot for you, but don’t do what you normally do and rush into anything...just allow yourself to process things.”

Oliver frowns at her words, her assumption on point, but it still rubs him the wrong way. He gently pulls Lucas’ hand from tugging on his beard yet again before he addresses her concerns. “He’s  _ literally _ sitting in my lap, Felicity. I don’t have  _ time _ to process anything.”

Felicity stops short at his words, her hand pausing midway into one of the shopping bags, “I just meant don’t be rash and…”

Oliver growls at her insinuation, not that he blames her, but Lucas is his  _ son.  _ He is not going to abandon him. He’s just about to tell her that, when Lucas suddenly  _ growls _ startling both adults.

Oliver looks down at his son, and the baby gives him a cheeky smile, then  _ growls _ again. He’s copying him, he’s actually copying Oliver and mimicking his growl. Oliver did not even know babies could  _ do _ that.

Felicity, though, is utterly delighted and giggles. “Oh my the grumpiness is hereditary.”

“I’m not going to abandon him, Felicity.” Oliver says firmly, pointedly ignoring her teasing comment. He is not terrified of his decision, in fact, he is more terrified at how simple this decision came to him. He is terrified of failing this helpless baby. He is also way in over his head. “His mother already abandoned him, I refuse to do the same. Even if I am completely unqualified for this.”

Felicity’s eyes soften at his words, she reaches out for his hand and squeezes it softly, “This will be the best thing you do.”

Her unwavering faith in him leaves him breathless at times.

“But first, you gotta know what type of diapers he needs.” Felicity’s voice calls out teasingly pulling him from his thoughts. She holds up the tiniest diaper Oliver has ever seen, not that he has anything to compare it too. It’s only when he sees even _Lucas_ looks massive next the diapers that he knows that he messed up.

It will be the first of many, of that, he is certain. 

“It’s okay, I looked it up online, and even though they are labelled by months babies vary in weight. Once you find the right size you can use that as a base value.” Felicity explains thoughtfully, as she goes through the other bags. He is not surprised she knows more about babies than he does. However, he is smart enough to know  _ not  _ to point that out to her. She pauses halfway through the second bag, her cheeks slightly pink and she looks across at him with a sheepish smile. “I mean, if that’s how you want to go about things.”

“No, that’s perfect, Felicity. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.” Oliver confesses equally sheepish. He does not think he could even begin to navigate this thing…  _ parenthood... _ without her.

As soon as the thought crosses his mind, he quickly shakes his head free of  _ those _ images. He is heading down some dangerous territory. Felicity is only helping him out as a  _ friend _ , because that is the kind of person she is.

He is getting  _ way _ too far ahead of himself, he blames the baby… his  _ son _ . Every time he sends Felicity a small smile and calls out to her like he  _ knows _ her, that he clearly knows more than they do. The baby’s immediate familiarity with Felicity is why Oliver feels as though he cannot do this without her, he feels as though he’s  _ not _ suppose to do this without her. At least that is what he tells himself.

“Clearly, you’re gonna need a lot more stuff than this, but for now I think you have enough to at least feed him and keep him warm till you get everything else.” Felicity continues, he can practically see the way the wheels are turning in her head and she mentally categorizes the list of things that he will need.

At least one of them is being practical. While Oliver is fantasizing about the three of them being an instantaneous family, Felicity is actually making lists for him so that he can provide for his son. 

Felicity tweaks Lucas’ nose, earning a loud squeal in response, her eyes lighting up in delight. She then looks around at the foundry with mild disgust and turns her attention back to Oliver. “You’re not planning on keeping him down here are you?”

It’s no secret that Oliver has been living in the foundry on and off since his return from Lian Yu, despite the fact that the Queen manor has at least a dozen empty rooms for him. Felicity knows this, and although he could tell on multiple occasions she wanted to comment on it, she never did. 

Until  _ now _ .

“Oliver, this place is not even fit to house  _ you, _ far less a baby,” Felicity protests, “you can  _ not _ keep him down here.”

“I won’t. I’m just not ready to take him home. My mother and Thea…” Oliver trails off, wondering if he would be able to sneak the baby into a hotel for the next few days till they both catch their barings before the rest of the world finds out.

“Oh right…why don’t you come home with me?” Felicity asks suddenly, her cheeks pinking up in embarrassment and she quickly tries to clarify, “I’m not propositioning you or anything...I mean you  _ and _ Lucas. Why don’t you stay for the night and you can get some time to figure out what you’re gonna do next. What’s next for the both of you.”

“I don’t want to impose…” Oliver protests weakly, wanting nothing more than to just go with her, but not wanting to seem  _ too _ eager.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Felicity dismisses as she stretches out her hands to the baby and Lucas jumps eagerly into her arms. They both have matching smiles as Lucas coos out to Felicity, the baby’s infatuation with Felicity completely relatable to Oliver. 

“We can stop by the convenience store and get the right diapers, because we have a code brown situation here.” Felicity nose wrinkles in disgust as she looks down at Lucas who only smiles at her in return.

Oliver huffs out a small laugh as he gathers the other bags, but the moment he steps towards the pair, he gets a whiff of the ‘code brown’ situation and he grimaces in disgust, “oh wow, that’s...should a baby even make that kind of smell?”

“I don’t know, but we gotta fix this before we all pass out.”

He knows she’s kidding, but he’s legitimately concerned for their well-being,  _ especially  _ Lucas. That’s just not right. “Do you know how to change a diaper?” 

“No.” Felicity replies with uncertainty as they make their way up the stairs. “I guess we can always just hose him off before we put on a clean diaper.”

“That could work...” Oliver replies truthfully, never before grateful that she is here to help him out.

Felicity spins on her heels, Lucas squealing in delight at the sudden movement, “I was  _ kidding _ , Oliver. He is a baby, not a dog!”

“Well, I don’t know what I’m doing Felicity!” Oliver snaps back in annoyance.

“Neither do I, Oliver! When I got up this morning I didn’t think my inability to change a diaper would be questioned!” Felicity replies hotly. Lucas has since quieted down and is looking back and forth between the two with apprehension.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, you didn’t ask for this. I shouldn’t have thrown this at you. He is my responsibility,” Oliver replies solemnly. 

He tosses the bags into the carseat and then reaches for Lucas, but is surprised when Felicity tightens her grip on his son. “No. I told you I would help you out. I don’t know anymore about babies than you do. So we’ll have to just figure it out together? That’s what friends do.”

Oliver’s chest tightens at her words, her cheeks are a little pink and her hold on Lucas lessens. He can tell already that she feels as though she’s overstepped her boundaries, which is so far from the truth.

“ _ Best friends.”  _ Oliver clarifies softly, his own cheeks pinking up.

Felicity breath hitches at his words, Oliver would have missed it if he was not standing two steps below her. She looks at him with warm eyes and nods, “Best friends.”

They share a look, Oliver’s heart hammering in his chest and just as he moves the barest hint towards her, Lucas suddenly cries out loudly, slapping Oliver on the chest. 

“Alright, Mr. Queen, no need to get testy.” Felicity says with a laugh, the moment lost. 

Lucas  _ Queen _ , because he is Oliver’s son. 

Oliver still can’t believe this is his life now. Felicity’s cheek are still pink from earlier but she sends Oliver one last smile before she turns on her heels and heads up the rest of the stairs.

“If I were him and sitting in my own filth I’d be testy too.” Oliver quips.

He watches as Felicity pauses on the stairs then throws back her head and laughs. “Oliver, that’s just gross.”

Oliver grins behind her, chuckling when Lucas looks over her shoulder back at him, his chubby fingers in his mouth and drool slowly making its way down Felicity’s jacket. 

He wonders briefly if all babies are this cute or if his is an anomaly.

* * *

Felicity steps into her apartment quickly ridding herself of her boots, her nose wrinkling in disgust as she holds Lucas at arm’s length. The baby cries out in protest squirming in her arms as she makes a beeline for her bathroom. “Oliver, grab the stuff, we need to get rid of this thing before it stinks up my entire apartment.”

“Right behind you!” Oliver replies dutifully from behind her.

Lucas cries echo in her tiny apartment, the baby no doubt uncomfortable at having a dirty diaper. Not that Felicity blames him at all, they took far too long trying to figure out the car seat and by the time they got to the store Lucas was overly cranky and in the end Oliver just ended grabbing four different sized diapers in hopes that he picked the right one.

They  _ should _ have attempted to simply change his diaper in the back of her car, but clearly neither of them are on the top of their game at the moment.

“I know. I know. We’re gonna get you all cleaned up.” Felicity promises, her heart breaking at the fat tears that are rolling down Lucas’s cheeks. She grabs one of her bath mats from her linen closet and quickly throws it onto the bathroom counter. Never in a million years did she think her ridiculous enormous and out of place bathroom counter would come in handy like this.

She places Lucas on the bath mat and goes about unzipping his onesie. She’s pretty sure they are going to have to burn all his clothes anyway. Oliver is standing next to them with an open container of baby wipes in one hand and three different size diapers clutched to his chest looking down at Lucas worriedly.

The moment she pulls off the onesie they both cough out in disgust. Lucas stops crying and stares at them, his little head tilted to the side almost as though he  _ know _ s they have no clue what they are doing.

She holds the plastic tab of the diapers and looks across at Oliver who is looking at her with apprehension, the container of baby wipes now open in his hand and he offers it to her with a sheepish smile.

They make quite the pair. She holds her breath and quickly opens the diaper and she fights everything in her to not gag.

“ _ Jesus _ ,” Oliver hisses out in disgust, “maybe we  _ should _ hose him down.”

Lucas giggles loudly, no doubt from both of their facial expressions, his feet kicking at them eagerly. Felicity quickly grabs him by the ankles with one hand and smiles at Oliver, who has a hand offering her one of the baby wipes.

She is about to take it from him, but Oliver changes his mind mid step and moves forward to wipe Lucas little tush. However, just as he goes to make another swipe, a sudden warm stream of liquid splatters all over Oliver and Felicity.

Lucas only giggles loudly at their yells of protest.

“Oh my god!” Felicity splutters, one hand resting on Lucas’ stomach, her eyes wide and full of horror. “He  _ peed _ on us! Oliver, your son  _ peed _ on us!”

“Yes, Felicity I can taste a little of it in my mouth.” Oliver replies dryly as he rids himself of his shirt.

She looks down at Lucas and sees that the baby is filthy as well. Despite that, though, he continues to babble incoherent words, little arms and legs flailing in excitement. At least  _ someone  _ is enjoying themselves.

She can feel  _ pee _ running down her collarbone and she is certain it splattered all in her hair. She can see that Oliver is not faring any better than she is, his face is  _ covered _ with pee. However, her eyes can’t help but linger on Oliver’s bare chest. Suddenly, Oliver huffs and grabs the baby off the counter, Lucas giggling in delight. “You’re gross kid. C’mon.”

Lucas only babbles in return, the fact that he seems to want to  _ answer _ them would amuse Felicity any other time if she was not covered in his bodily fluids. She is just about to ask Oliver if he’s really going to take the baby outside to hose him down, but stops short when Oliver steps into her shower and turns on the water with ease.

“Oliver, what are you doing?” Felicity asks in alarm, watching as Lucas reaches for the water, little hands opening and closing as the water droplets fall on him.

“Cleaning him.” Oliver declares, his voice firm and determined. It’s the voice he uses when he’s about to take down a criminal, and yet here he is standing soaking wet in her shower, trying to clean off his dirty son.

Oliver holds Lucas at arm’s length, gently moving the baby in and out of the water stream, until the baby is completely soaked. Lucas is enjoying this to the fullest and laughs in delight each time Oliver moves him under the water and then pats Oliver on the forearm, no doubt to do it again.

Felicity leans against the wall of the shower, her arms folded as she watches the two and their antics. If anyone told her 24 hours ago that she would have a half naked Oliver in her shower, bathing his infant  _ son, _ she would have laughed at their faces.

“Ma!” Lucas calls out to her, reaching for her. 

Oliver looks across at her with an encouraging smile, water dripping down his face and chest, and it takes everything in her to not follow the trail those water droplets are taking.

“C’mon, Felicity.” Oliver cajoules, a rare smile gracing his usual stoic expression.

Lucas seems to understand what is going on and he looks at her eagerly, his little hands outstretched, closing and opening rapidly, calling out to her, “ _ Ma!” _

They need to stop encouraging him, she doesn’t understand why this baby is so attached to her. It’s clear he’s old enough to know who is mother is and yet he seems to think that  _ she _ is his mother. 

It makes no sense.

She has two pairs of matching blue eyes looking at her, pleading for her to join them, but she  _ can’t _ . She is playing with fire, getting so attached to these two can only lead to heartbreak for  _ her. _

Oliver seems to sense her hesitation and his smile falters, she hates that she is the reason for this when it’s such a rare occurance to see Oliver smile to begin with. “You should at least wash out all the baby crap all over you. I can finish cleaning him off.”

Felicity shakes her head, she should at least help him out, that was the entire reason she offered up her place to two for the night. She pushes the shower curtain all the way to the other side till she’s standing next to shower stream. “Let me wash my face, then I can hold him while you soap him down.”

She tips her head under the shower stream, tugging her ponytail free so her blonde hair is soaked to the tips when she pulls back. Both Queens are staring back at her, Oliver has an almost feral look in his eyes, but the moment  _ their _ eyes meet he shakes his head and looks away from her. Lucas though is utterly delighted and reaches for her eagerly, clearly wanting to join in. At this point the baby probably thinks they are playing a game with him. She reaches out to Lucas, her eyes widening when he almost slips in her arms.

“Yea, he’s moving around like a worm.” Oliver offers, his voice slightly hoarse. He does not wait for her to respond but instead spins around and grabs her bottle of body wash. “I’ll need to get baby soap too... are there things like that?”

Felicity shrugs as she holds out Lucas at arm’s length so Oliver can start to wash the squirming baby’s body. “I hope so, I don’t think my body wash will harm him, but we won’t wash his hair or face with it just in case. He’s just gonna smell like…”

“Coconuts.” Oliver says his eyes fluttering close as he inhales the scent, when he opens his eyes and sees Felicity staring at him, his cheeks pink up. “It smells like you.”

Felicity does not know how to respond to that declaration or wrap her mind around the fact that Oliver apparently knows what she  _ smells _ like. Instead she spins the baby around to face her so that Oliver can wash his back. Lucas on facing her grins widely, his little legs still bouncing in excitement. “You’re having way too much fun with this, little man.”

“There has got to be a better alternative than this,” Oliver huffs as he grabs a hold of one of Lucas’ kicking legs, making sure to get between all the rolls in his legs.

“Well, I thought you were just gonna put him in the bathroom sink.” Felicity says with a shrug, she can’t help but laugh at the look of sheepish realization in Oliver’s face.

“I may have overreacted a bit.” Oliver says sheepishly. He looks down at Lucas who is now clapping the water between his hands, splattering them both, “at least he’s enjoying himself.”

“He is,” Felicity agrees. She makes silly faces at Lucas before she turns her attention back to Oliver, “next time, I think a baby bathtub is in order.”

Oliver nods in agreement and they both laugh when Lucas’ blows a raspberry and water goes splattering.

“Hold him for me, while I get a towel.” She passes the baby back to him before she pulls half of her body out the shower. The majority of her top is soaked, but for the most part she is faring much better than Oliver, who is completely soaked.

After she gets one of her large towels, she takes the baby from Oliver and wraps him up like a burrito, Lucas giggling loudly in delight. 

“I’ll get him dressed… we only have diapers at the moment but I’ll get something to put on him and you finish your shower. Then we’ll switch.” Felicity calls over to Oliver, not wanting him to see her pink cheeks at her suggestion that he  _ showers  _ while she is in the bathroom drying off his son.

“I don’t have any other clothes.” Oliver’s voice comes out muffled behind the now  _ closed _ shower curtains. 

Felicity can hear the tell tale signs of wet clothes hitting the floor. She takes a deep breath, pointedly trying not to think about a naked Oliver in her shower just two feet away. She looks down at Lucas and tosses the towel over his torso, ensuring there are no more accidents like before while she grabs a nearby diaper. 

“Just leave your clothes in the shower, I’ll put it to wash with mine and Lucas’ stuff. I’ll see if I have anything that’ll fit you and Lucas.”

“Oh! My bag. It has my work suit and clean boxers, would you be able to get that for me?” Oliver calls out, his own voice sounding slightly strangled. 

She wants to point out that he can’t  _ sleep _ in his suit, but she does not want to seem like she is suggesting the alternative. Which she totally is  _ not _ thinking about... well, not entirely. “I’ll get it as soon as I figure out these tabs, why does this thing have so many tabs?”

To her horror...or delight? Oliver pushes the shower curtain back and sticks his head out, water dripping  _ everywhere,  _ and Felicity has to remind herself how to breathe at the sight of a  _ naked _ , wet Oliver. Well, she can’t see anything behind the curtain but she  _ knows _ , and that will be enough to fuel her dreams for  _ weeks _ .

“Do you need help?” His concern is so sweet, Felicity feels bad for lusting after him when all he wants to do is make sure his son is well taken care of.

His son, whom Felicity is completely ignoring to currently think  _ dirty _ things about his father. Too many dirty thoughts.

Felicity shakes her head. “I got a masters degree at MIT in cyber security. I can figure out how diapers work.”

Sure enough after a few failed attempts, Lucas is finally dry and wearing a proper fitted diaper. His blonde hair is sleek, pointing upwards and he looks so adorable Felicity just want to kiss all of him and his cute chubby rolls.

She’s turning into her mother.

After depositing Oliver’s bag in the bathroom, she leaves him be while she goes searching for something for the baby to wear.

However, a few minutes into her search, Lucas starts to get whiny and makes a grab for her top again. Last time she was able to distract him with his pacifier and she suspected he might not have been as hungry, but by now she’s certain the baby is starving.

“Let’s try and figure out a bottle, uh?” Felicity asks bouncing the baby in hopes to distract him but he is having none of that and starts crying in earnest, his little head only nuzzling her chest.

After a few minutes and a quick read from Google along with the instructions on both the bottle as well as the container of baby formula, Felicity has a bottle of milk almost complete and hopefully ready to consume. Felicity is about to test the temperature of the milk on her skin when Oliver walks out of the shower, the bottle almost slipping from her fingers in surprise. He has a towel over his shoulders and his navy blue boxers hang low on his waist. He is yet to notice either of them in the kitchen, but Felicity certainly noticed  _ him _ .

“Hey, you got him dinner!” Oliver greets her utterly delighted and completely unaware of his effect on her. Her knees go weak at the sight of his naked torso, which is ridiculous seeing as she’s seen him shirtless dozens of times. Except ,she has never seen him shirtless, in his boxers  _ and _ in her apartment. Only in her dreams.

She startles at his words and looks down to see that Lucas took it upon himself to grab the bottle from her and he’s now drinking his bottle with content. Clearly, Lucas is not going to wait for her to finish lusting after his father. Or, the baby was hungry and decided to help himself.

“Oh.” She says with a soft sigh, her heart swelling.

“Let me take him.” Oliver offers quietly, already reaching for the baby and she almost resists, “So you can shower.”

Right, her clothes are still wet and her top probably smells of pee. She relinquishes her hold on the baby, ghosting her fingers over his head, not wanting to disturb him from his meal. She looks up at Oliver, but she can see that he is completely enamoured by his son, his eyes warm as he stares down at the baby. 

Felicity’s heart aches a little bit more when she walks away from them knowing that this is only temporarily. One day soon, they will both leave and she hates that she’s already so attached to the idea of these two Queen men in her home and in her life, beyond the four walls of the foundry.  
  



	3. Chapter 3

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Oliver dismisses easily as he paces the small length of Felicity’s living room, his eyes lingering on the Robin Hood poster hanging above her television. “We’re not going to kick you out of your bed, Felicity.”

“Well, he can’t exactly sleep on the floor, Oliver.” Felicity remarks equally testy. She looks down at Lucas who is lying on his stomach in the middle of her living room, his blue eyes staring at them curiously.

They pushed aside the coffee table and laid out one of her winter quilts on the floor to give Lucas somewhere to lie down for the time being. 

“I’ll put some of the sofa cushions on the floor for him and I’ll sleep on the floor next to him,“ Oliver replies stubbornly. As much as he needs Felicity help, he also does not want to inconvenience her anymore than he already has.

Felicity choosing to sleep on her couch, while Oliver and Lucas take her bed is out of the question. Of course, Felicity does not see it that way. She’s standing a few feet away from Oliver hands on her hips, her blond hair now a ringlet of curls cascading way past her shoulders. She’s not wearing a stitch of makeup. Oliver has never seen her like this, unencumbered by their corporate jobs, so carefree and she takes his breath away.

Beautiful or not, she is far too stubborn for her own good.

“Oliver, you’re being ridiculous,” Felicity snaps back angrily. She takes a step towards him, her head tilted all the way back to look at him, without her heels she is much shorter than he realizes. She’s cute, though and she definitely would not appreciate his observations, while she tries to make her point. “Your son needs a proper bed to sleep in, just get in my bed and stop being so pigheaded about it!”

Her eyes widen at her words and she slaps her forehead in exasperation, “I do not want to take you to bed, especially with your son right there...not that I would take you to bed if Lucas was not here...I mean...three, two, one.”

Oliver bites back a smile, knowing she would not appreciate his amusement. He places a hand on her shoulder hoping to help calm her nerves. He’s noticed over the past year of knowing her that her babbles only get really out of hand when she’s nervous. “Why don’t you and Lucas take the bed and I’ll sleep on the floor, so if he wakes up I can get to him?”

She opens her mouth about to protest but then sighs in mild exasperation, he knows she’s not pleased with his compromise, but is willing to meet him halfway. 

They make quite the pair. 

“Alright, I only suggested it because I read that sleeping with babies help them bond with their parents more and I figured you would want that for you and Lucas,” Felicity remarks with defeat. 

He should have known that her insistence was not her being stubborn but her thinking about Lucas’ well being. He’s about to suck up his pride and let her do this for him, when the _ empty _ quilt catches his eye. He whips around his eyes scanning the small living room, but Lucas is nowhere in sight

“Felicity! Where is Lucas?” Oliver asks her in a panic making his way to the empty quilt as though his son will _ magically _ appear before him.

Felicity spins on her heels her eyes wide in horror, “Lucas!”

Not even 24 hours as a father and Oliver has _ lost _his child. Felicity claps twice and suddenly multiple lights and lamps turn on brightly. He would have commented on that particular nerdy detail but a sudden soft clap stops him in his steps.

Felicity turns and looks at him breathing a sigh of relief, a smile blossoming on her face. She claps again and sure enough a small giggle is heard behind the couch followed my another round of claps. Felicity laughs as Oliver kneels on the couch peering over the back. Sure enough Lucas is sitting behind the couch clapping eagerly. He sends Oliver a two tooth smile as though he did not just give them a heart attack.

He feels a small hand on his forearm, and he looks to his right to see Felicity kneeling on the couch looking down at Lucas in amusement, “So, I guess he can crawl?”

Felicity huffs out a laugh at Oliver’s words, “the little ninja waited until we weren’t looking.”

“Smart,” Oliver points out proudly. 

“Oliver, he’s getting away again!” Felicity suddenly yells as she slaps Oliver on the arm urgently. Sure enough Lucas is on his hands and knees already making his escape.

He jumps over the couch landing a few feet in front of Lucas. The baby stops short, his blue eyes going wide in surprise, Oliver is almost afraid he scared him, but Lucas only babbles on seeing him and raises his hand begging to be picked up.

Oliver scoops up the baby and can’t help but laugh at the dimpled smile staring back at him. How can such a little person cause him a rainbow of emotions in such a small space of time? He turns around to see Felicity, with her head resting on the back of the couch staring up at them with a soft smile. 

_ Oh _. Lucas is not the first person to make him experience this rainbow of emotions. 

“Maybe we should both sleep in the bed with him,” Felicity suggests, her eyes are on Lucas and she does not notice the way Oliver freezes at her words. He waits for her apologize but she only reaches over to ruffle Lucas’ hair. “That way if he tries to escape one of us will catch him. That’s right, you’re an escape artist aren’t you, Lucas?”

Oliver heart melts at the way she coos at the baby and Lucas responses in kind, equally enamoured. 

“That’s a good idea,” Oliver replies with a strangled voice. He’s grateful she’s still too focused on Lucas to notice Oliver’s pinch expression at the idea of sharing a bed with her.

He is in so much trouble.

* * *

A loud cry pierces through the small apartment startling Oliver and Felicity awake.

Oliver reaches for the knife he usually sleeps next to but stops short when he takes notice of the very unfamiliar room. His breathing evens out as the past few hours come crashing back to him.

He turns to his side and is greeted by the sight of a sleep deprived Felicity cradling Lucas against her chest as she tries to calm his crying.

He sees the alarm clock behind her and he knows they may have gotten three hours sleep at most. It was a battle to try and get Lucas to sleep. The baby seemed fully aware that he was no longer in his previous home and he started to get fussy. They tried everything to get him down but he was not having any of it. It wasn’t until Felicity started to _ sing _ while Oliver took his turn walking the short length of her living room did Lucas finally settled down.

Of all the scenarios, Oliver has had in his head about waking up in Felicity’s bed - and he’s ashamed to think of just how many scenarios he has concocted over the past few months- waking up with her cradling his crying son was _ never _ a scenario he thought of.

It’s terrifying how _ this _ scenario is his favourite one.

He sits up and quickly holds out his arms for the baby. Lucas, on seeing him, surprises him when he whimpers and crawls over to Oliver. 

“I’ll make him another bottle, maybe he’s hungry again.” Felicity says with a yawn already rolling off the bed not waiting for Oliver to respond.

“_ Ma” _Lucas whimpers and although he watches her walk away he only snuggles into Oliver deeper, his little nose red and wet rubbing against Oliver’s skin.

“I know, she’ll be back soon,” Oliver promises pressing a kiss to the baby’s head. He knows he should not be encouraging the moniker. Felicity weakly protests each time Lucas addresses her as such, but selfishly Oliver is still trying to catch his bearings and if calling Felicity _ that _ brings his son comfort, who is he to refuse?

And maybe, just maybe, a small part of him can pretend that all of this is under different circumstances, much more pleasant and _ permanent _ circumstances.

Lucas cries out angrily as he kicks and tugs at Felicity’s old tshirt clearly uncomfortable. Oliver quickly decides to tug the offending thing off the baby and then lays a now bare chest Lucas against him and the baby immediately settles.

“We’ll get you something proper to wear tomorrow,” Oliver promises quietly, slightly put out yet again at the woman who abandoned him. The _ least _ she could have done was include a bag of items.

Lucas begins to fuss again and Oliver finally rises to his feet, bouncing the baby in his arms to try and get him to settle. As he paces Felicity’s small bedroom, Oliver’s eyes can’t help but take in Felicity’s private space. When they were arguing about sleeping arrangements and trying to get Lucas to fall asleep the first time, Oliver barely took stock of the bright colourful room. Now, he finds himself devouring every nook and cranny trying to learn a little bit more about his favorite IT expert.

The room is devoid of pictures, which surprises Oliver, although Felicity is pretty mum about her private life he always assumed she had one. Family is another thing he always assumed she had but also never asked about. Yet, her room lacks anything of that sort. He does see an MIT graduation cap hanging on her dresser and an assortment of make up littering it. 

On the other side of the room is a chest of drawers with some open and clothes spilling out, on the top there are at least three pairs of glasses, none of which look like the one Oliver is used to seeing her with. 

In fact those specific glasses are resting on the bedside table next to her phone and tablet. There are a lot of random USB cords of all shapes, sizes and lengths in various parts of the bedroom and it makes Oliver smile. 

“Oh, you got him back to sleep,” Felicity’s soft whisper startles him and Oliver looks down to see that somewhere along his pacing the baby had indeed fallen asleep.

Felicity looks down at the bottle in her hand and frowns, “I’ll leave it on the bedside table just in case he wakes up again and I can always just warm it up.”

She yawns again crawling into bed after she placed the bottle next to her. She’s just about to bury herself under the blankets when she sees that Oliver is now gently swaying with Lucas in his arms, standing at the foot of the bed.

“Oliver, you can put him down. You can’t expect to walk with him like that all night,” Felicity says in exasperation. She pats the bed lightly, “come to bed.”

She freezes at her words, her cheeks pinking up, she buries her face in her pillow and groans. He knows the little action is just her being embarrassed at herself yet again, but the sounds she makes does the exact opposite to Oliver, and he has to remind himself not only is he holding his sleeping son in his arms, but he’s still only wearing his boxers and there is just no way he can hide his attraction to her in such little clothing.

While she’s still dying of mortification, Oliver gently lowers Lucas to the bed, holding his breath to see if the baby remains asleep. Once he gets the all clear Oliver quickly tucks himself under the blanket.

“I’m sorry,” Felicity says still mortified. He can only make out her eyes under the blanket cocoon she has made for herself.

“Felicity, you never have to apologize to me,” Oliver replies sincerely.

She huffs slightly, but then pulls the blanket down past her chin and smiles at him sheepishly, “okay.”

* * *

The next time he wakes up to the sound of Felicity’s soft voice filtering through the small room as she sings a familiar Disney tune. He turns to his side and sees her sitting with her back against the headboard cradling Lucas to her chest as she feeds him. Lucas’ legs are resting on the bed and they kick ever so often but for the most part he is focused on his meal, his eyes trained on Felicity. 

“Is that Little Mermaid?” Oliver rasps out, rolling a little closer to the pair but not wanting to disturb his son.

Felicity startles at his voice but her grip remains on the bottle she’s holding. Lucas has one hand placed on the bottle but the other one is deep in the V of Felicity’s shirt almost like he’s trying to tug her closer to him. 

“I’m surprised you know what it is,” she teases back lightly, her eyes trained on Lucas.

“I’ve only been living on an island for 5 years,” Oliver volleys back with a smile.

Felicity pauses and looks at him all hints of teasing gone, “you never talk about the island.”

Oliver’s chest tightens at her words, he never talks about the island much less _ jokes _ about it. Felicity seems to pick up his hesitancy and her voice is lower and uncertain as she speaks, “you don’t have to if you don’t want to but...remember when I first started to work with you and Diggle, you once told me I could talk to you about our nights?”

Oliver hums in recognition at her question, remembering that promise that he made her, that he feels like he never did follow through with, “yes.”

“Well it works both ways, Oliver,” she uses her free hand to stretch it across to him and Oliver finds himself reaching out to her like a moth to a flame, “whenever you’re ready, I’m here to listen… even if it’s just about your day.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about the island,” Oliver confesses softly, his hand starts to feel clammy against her. 

But Felicity only squeezes his hand in reassurance, “it’s okay, it’s an open invitation.”

“Felicity, thank you.” 

There is so much more he wishes he could say, so much more he needs to thank her for but he can’t seem to find the words.

* * *

The next time he wakes up, he can feel the sun on his skin, but what actual startles him awake is a heavy weight on his chest and a chubby hand hitting his nose repeatedly.

He opens his eyes to see Lucas peering down at him, looking at him expectantly almost as if the baby is offended that Oliver was asleep. 

“Hey,” Oliver greets him with a smile. Lucas babbles loudly in return, his little knees digging into Oliver’s chest and then slaps Oliver on the chest excitedly babbling even more. “Shh, you’re gonna wake Felicity,”

Lucas tilts his head to the side biting his lip, his blue eyes squinting at Oliver thoughtfully. Oliver breath catches in his throat, the gesture pulling him back to one year ago when he walked in a tiny little cubicle asking an unsuspecting blonde to help him with his laptop. 

That’s _ impossible. _

Oliver shakes his head clear of those thoughts, they should probably start being more firm with Lucas on who Felicity is. But how is Oliver suppose to tell his son that when he himself is unsure.

Oliver looks across to the blonde in question and can’t help but smile at the way she’s sprawled out across her pillow, blonde hair in disarray across her bed, her mouth slightly parted as she sleeps soundly.

She takes Oliver’s breath away.

“Ma!” Lucas declares, pulling Oliver from his thoughts.

Oliver realizes belatedly that the baby is crawling over him and making his way towards Felicity. He tries to make a grab for the baby but Lucas slips out easily enough with a giggle, clearly he thinks it’s a game. He stops halfway to Felicity and looks back at Oliver with a cheeky smile.

“Ma!” Lucas cheers excitedly just as he grabs Felicity’s arm and goes tumbling onto her.

“Earthquake!” Felicity sits up in alarm and all but yells out, luckily she has a grip on Lucas and the baby does not go tumbling off the bed. 

“Oh my god,” Oliver says with a snort, when Felicity looks at him in confusion his resolve shatters and he breaks out into laughter. 

Lucas follows suit and starts giggling madly, so much so that he slips off of Felicity and falls into the centre of the bed. Both Felicity and Oliver look on in horror but Lucas only rights himself and then laughs some more. 

He is laughing so strongly though that he goes tipping over to the side yet again and as soon as he hits the bed he begins to laugh again and soon all three of them are laughing.

Oliver can’t remember the last time he laughed so much.

“I was looking up some things online and I think we should give him some food besides the milk.” Felicity leans forward and grabs Lucas by the ankle before the baby can go tumbling off the side of the bed. Lucas though whips his head around and _ glares _ at her in annoyance. “Well, if you had any doubt before that he was yours.”

“Hey!” Oliver grumbles, but has to admit the scowl on his son's face _ is _ kinda funny.

Lucas then babbles loudly in response raising his hand at Felicity.

“You were gonna fall off the bed,” she tells him seriously.

Lucas in return continues to babble and it looks as though he’s arguing with her. His little arms rise up and he shakes them in frustration. His incoherent babbles rising in annotation as well.

The way he moves and his babbles reminds Oliver of Felicity whenever she’s worked up about something. Which is a ridiculous notion to begin with.

Oliver leans forward and gathers the baby up, but he frowns when he smells a familiar stench.

“Code brown,” he explains to Felicity depositing the baby back on the bed and making a beeline for her bathroom. 

When he comes back, he finds Felicity in a staring match with Lucas. She tries not to smile and Lucas tries to copy her but when she blows lightly in his face, the baby breaks out into loud laughter.

He’s such a happy baby, Oliver can’t fathom how on earth he could be his son.

“I think you accidentally picked up a pack of 10 months to 12 months, but that’s the one that fit him,” Felicity explains as she takes the bath mat from him and lays it onto the bed.

“Do you think he could be a year?” Oliver asks, his stomach clenching at the thought that he might have missed out on a year of his son’s life.

“Maybe, or he could just be a chubby baby,” Felicity says with a shrug as she looks down at Lucas with a smile, “you’re chubby and full delicious rolls, right Lucas?”

She then leans down and blows a loud raspberry right on the crease of one of legs, the baby giggling slightly. She pulls back and wrinkles her nose, “that may have been a bad decision.”

“Just remember to cover him when we take off the diaper,” Oliver reminds her with a smile.

“Can’t forget that,” Felicity says with a laugh as she has the clean diaper ready once Oliver starts to remove the dirty one.

It’s as disgusting as it was the previous night, at least this time they aren’t splattered with pee and Oliver calls that a win.

“Eventually, you’re gonna have to learn how to do this solo,” Felicity teases.

Oliver only grunts in response, not wanting her to know how put off he is by the thought of doing any of this alone.

“Bananas for breakfast?” Felicity addresses Lucas instead of Oliver, already scooping the baby off the bed.

Lucas starts bouncing in her arms excitedly, so much so Felicity has to hold onto him tightly before he slips out of her arms. She looks across at Oliver her eyes wide in amusement, “I guess bananas are a hit? It’s the only fruit I even like so we got lucky,”

Her words strike a chord with him _ another _ coincidence? But his tongue catches in his throat when she slides off the bed with Lucas in her arms and her pajama shorts ride up and exposes soft curves of endless creamy skin. The light material with dancing avocados fall soon as she takes a step but he can’t unsee what he just saw.

“Oliver!” He startles and looks at her sheepishly, but she seems unaware of his staring, or so he hopes.

Oliver follows them out of the bedroom listening to Felicity carry on a conversation with Lucas as if she understands what the baby is saying. 

When they get to the kitchen she deposits the baby into Oliver’s arms. Lucas sends Oliver a toothy smile and raises his hand to rub Oliver’s cheek. They realized early on that Lucas seems to love Oliver’s beard, he enjoys tugging it and rubbing his hands and face along it.

“I didn’t realize you had freckles,” Felicity says suddenly, pulling Oliver away from his son briefly.

She sees his confused face and goes back to grabbing one of her plates and a banana and a knife, “I mean as a kid, not that I would _ know _ that, but I did too, well still do.”

When she places the plate of sliced bananas in front of Lucas, he makes a dive for the pieces immediately, while Oliver still looks at her blankly, “Lucas, he’s got endless freckles all along his nose and cheeks. I use to have so many, and living in Vegas only made it worse my Mom always had me in a hat but I still got so many.”

Felicity shakes her at the memory then laughs when she sees Lucas face is covered in bananas. She wipes his nose free of banana, “You’re gonna need a little baby baseball cap in summer,” 

Oliver never had freckles, nor did Thea did when they were kids, in fact they only tanned when they played in the sun too much. 

Oliver looks down at his son, who is sitting on his lap, practically devouring the pieces of banana in front of him. Lucas twists his head to look at Oliver, babbles a bit before he shoves a piece of banana into Oliver’s mouth.

Oliver is certain he got a piece of the fruit up his nose. Felicity is now laughing loudly and Lucas, of course, follows suit. After wiping his face with the back of his hand, Oliver watches as Lucas tries to feed Felicity next. From his perch on the chair Oliver can see lightly coloured freckles splattered across Lucas’ nose and cheeks and when he turns his head to Felicity, he sees the same kind of freckles all on _ her _nose and cheeks. 

He shakes his head, as though the physical movement would stop his mind from going down that road. He’s pulled away from his thoughts yet again when Lucas calls out to Felicity eagerly. 

Felicity makes her way back to the baby, napkin in hand, “what’s up little man,”

But Lucas seems to want her to come closer, his little fingers curling as though he is calling her to him. So she takes a step closer and just when his face is in line with his he leans forward and places a wet kiss on her lips and then making a loud smacking sound like a kiss.

“Oh!” Felicity pulls back looking at Oliver in surprise, clearly not expecting that anymore than he was.

It’s obvious, Lucas was taught that, in fact, the baby seems to know how to interact with both of them very well. That added to the carseat with the custom made blanket, Oliver doesn’t get why his mother didn’t _ contact _ him in the first place.

He’s just about to voice this to Felicity when a blaring ring of a cell phone disturbs their peace. Felicity looks at Oliver in alarm, slapping him on the forearm, she winces when Lucas follows suit and slaps Oliver as well.

“Your meeting with the board!” Felicity tells him urgently, “and your mother! You’re suppose to go over the quarterly reports and discuss your mother’s place in the company. Oliver, you can’t miss this meeting!”

“I assumed you cancelled all my meetings for the day,” Oliver says sheepishly, looking down at the baby in his lap, “I can’t take him to work with me.”

“This is the third time I rescheduled this meeting. Oliver, some of the board members from Central City flew in for it. You _ can’t _ miss it,” Felicity insists, she takes Lucas in her arms and begins to pace, “It’s only 8, you still have time to get dressed and call Diggle to pick you up. I scheduled it for 8 on your calendar, but the meeting really starts at 10.”

He should probably be upset with her for that, but then he has been so use to her taking full control of his work calendar, he only has himself to blame for it. He _ really _ does not want to deal with the board or his mother, his main focus right now is the baby in front of him. “But Lucas...I have so many things to get for him, not to mention I’m not quite ready to tell my mother or the board about him.”

Felicity sighs in exasperation, shifting Lucas to her other hip, “I’ll handle Lucas, you handle the office. You miss this meeting and Isabel Rochev will have even more reason to kick you out and you can’t let the she-demon win.”

He waits for her to react or apologize for the more than accurate nickname, but she continues as though it is normal to refer to her boss that way. He has noticed ever since the incident in Russia she has stopped holding back how she _ really _ feels about the other woman and Oliver can’t help but wonder if there is more to it. He can’t help but hope.

“I started to make a list of things you need while I was feeding Lucas last night. I’ll try and get some basic stuff and this weekend you could look for a crib and all the other big things,” Felicity says quickly. She is walking around the kitchen now, putting some coffee on, and some bread in the toaster, all the while carrying Lucas who is watching her with fascination, when Oliver catches himself, he realizes that he is doing the very same thing.

“I actually started to write down some things as well,” Oliver says with a sheepish smile, he slides off the bar stool and moves to the nearby counter to grab his phone and wallet, “I’ll send you the list I made. I’m sure you have thought of everything already.”

He pulls out one of his credit cards and looks up just in time to see Felicity’s gaze fixated on his lower body. When their eyes meet, she jumps, her cheeks turn pink in embarrassment and she turns her focus back on Lucas, who is now tugging at her top impatiently. “ I don’t got the goods, kid,”

Oliver snorts in amusement as she goes about getting everything ready for a bottle for his son, who is not too pleased that she can’t give him what he wants. “Use my credit card, I’ll call Diggle and ask him to take you to the mall to get the things for Lucas. Felicity, I can’t thank you enough for this.”

“Oliver, no need to thank me. It’s what friends do, they help each other out,” Felicity says sincerely, their eyes meeting for all of a second before the moment is broken, when Lucas pokes Felicity in the boob _ hard. _“Hey! Stop that.”

Lucas immediately bursts into tears at her tone and Oliver can tell Felicity regrets it instantly. He can see she looks almost as crestfallen as his son. He quickly walks up to them, taking the crying baby from her, “He’s just hungry, you did not do anything wrong.”

She seems unconvinced, though and mumbles about going to get the bottle in the bedroom, her eyes moving regretfully to the baby before she walks off.

Olive bounces his son in his arms, pressing a soft kiss to his head, “Hey little man, we like Felicity remember? Don’t go giving her a hard time.”

“Ma,” Lucas whines out, his eyes looking in the direction Felicity just walked to, “_ Ma!” _

“She’s just gonna get your bottle,” Oliver reassures him as he rubs Lucas’ back.

It’s only been a little over 12 hours since he found Lucas, and Oliver is beginning to realize there are times when Lucas is completely inconsolable and the _ only _ person Lucas seems to want to comfort him is Felicity. The first time it happened, Oliver was holding the baby trying to get him to sleep, having no clue what he needed to do, but no matter what he did the baby kept begging for Felicity.

It’s disconcerting to say the least, the way his son seems to have latched on to Felicity. Not that Oliver minds perse, it’s just eventually Oliver is going to have to do this on his own. Raise Lucas on his own, and he is not sure how he’s supposed to do that when his son seems to prefer Felicity over him.

It’s hard enough for him to put distance between himself and Felicity, but the fact that his son already seems as reliant on her as Oliver himself does makes the entire notion of doing all of this on his own almost impossible.

Nevermind the fact that Oliver does not _ want _ do this without Felicity in the first place.

  
He is in so much trouble and so in over his head, and he’s _ not _ referring to his son.


	4. Chapter 4

“Oliver has a _ baby _, and you’re helping take care of him,” Diggle repeats for the third time. He’s standing in the middle of Felicity’s living room, his enormous arms folded across his chest as he looks down at Felicity in disbelief.

“If you’re going to lecture me, can you at least take a seat on the couch, you’re like a skyscraper looming over us and you’re going to scare Lucas.” Felicity gestures to the seat behind him casting a glance at Lucas, who is now standing as he holds onto the coffee table, slapping it repeatedly.

Diggle only huffs in exasperation, but takes a seat on the couch nonetheless. The moment he does though, Lucas squeals, and plops onto the floor crawling eagerly to a surprised Diggle. Once he reaches the older man, he grabs onto his leg and pulls himself up. Only Diggle’s entire calf is taller than Lucas. Felicity can’t help but picture Lucas trying to climb a tall mountain and she has to bite back her laughter.

“Hi,” Diggle greets the baby watching in amusement as he tries to climb his leg, but unable to. After a second try the baby gives up and reaches impatiently for him, Diggle looks at Felicity clearly confused and Felicity can only shrug her shoulders in response.

“He’s _ very _ friendly.” Felicity explains with a smile. She watches in amusement as Diggle hoists Lucas onto his lap and Lucas babbles excitedly at her friend. 

She can see Lucas work his charm on Diggle almost immediately when her friend smiles warmly in return and slaps his hand gently against the baby’s, giving him a high five.

Lucas giggles loudly and raises his hand again for another high five.

“I used to do this with AJ when he was a baby,” Diggle says with a laugh.

“Felicity, how do I work this thing?” Oliver walks into the living only dressed in his boxers holding her steamer in his hand.

Diggle looks between the two not impressed in the slightest. 

“It’s a long story,” Felicity says to him with a sigh, before she turns to Oliver in exasperation, “why aren’t you dressed yet? It’s 9:30, Oliver!”

“I don’t know how to work this thing!” Oliver snaps back equally exasperated.

“It’s like an iron, you put water in the container then turn it on,” she huffs out in annoyance and rises to her feet, following Oliver back to her bedroom, “you know steaming your clothes is not part of my job description anymore than buying your coffee.”

“Ma!”

She barely hears Oliver’s grumbling reply because Lucas suddenly calls out to her urgently. Well, the baby always sounds urgent went he calls out for her.

Felicity spins around and looks at Diggle sheepishly, “_ that _ is also a long story. Actually, it’s not a long story, we just don’t know why he calls me that.”

She does not wait for his response but quickly follows Oliver into her bedroom. After a few heated words and Felicity teaching Oliver how to use the steamer, she makes her way back into the living room. 

She knows Oliver is getting anxious. She is also nervous about this little bubble they have created the past 12 hours has effectively been burst and the more people that find out about Oliver’s son the more real the whole situation is.

When she walks back into the living room she sees Lucas is now standing on Diggle’s lap gripping the older man’s fingers as he babbles incoherently.

On seeing Felicity though, his little head immediately turns to her and he smiles widely, “Ma!”

Felicity winces slightly, she had been hoping he would _ not _ do that in front of Diggle again. She reaches for Lucas, pointedly ignoring Diggle’s stare, “Hey, little man, did you talk off Uncle Diggle’s ear?”

Diggle gawfs at her words, giving her a piercing look, “so I’m Uncle Diggle, but you…”

“We didn’t _ tell _ him to say it, he just _ did _. Who knows what the kid’s been through, John, if it brings him some comfort who am I to refuse him?” She counters. She presses a kiss to Lucas’ cheek, the baby following both of them with open wide curious eyes.

“What about you?” Diggle counters calmly, “how is this going to affect you, when this all blows up in your face?”

“Here, I thought you were more of a glass half full kind of guy,” Felicity jokes weakly, but at Diggle’s lack of response her joke just falls flat. 

“Felicity, this isn’t going to end well for you,” Diggle points out solemnly. He looks at Lucas who gives him a toothy smile, his little head still snuggled on Felicity’s chest, but Diggle doesn’t smile back at the baby. “Any of you.”

Their conversation is put on hold when Oliver comes barreling through the living room, his tie undone but not looking as frazzled as before. 

But despite this he makes a beeline to Felicity and Lucas, ruffling the baby’s hair, his eyes trained on Felicity, “you’re sure you can handle all of this, I can…”

“Oliver, we’ve been through this. I am not rescheduling your meetings today,” Felicity says firmly, bouncing Lucas lightly in her arms eliciting a loud giggle from the baby, “we’ll be fine. Lucas, tell your Daddy he is being a worry wart.”

Oliver huffs in exasperation at her words, his cheeks pinking up. While she no longer startles at Lucas’ name for her (a can of worms she _ refuses _ to address at this point in time). Oliver is still adjusting to _ his _ new title and Felicity has been trying to not so subtly get him used to his new role.

“Just call me if you need anything, okay?” Oliver says firmly. He glances across at Diggle who is watching them closely and takes a step back from Felicity.

“We’ll be fine and if John feels inclined he can help me with getting things for boys seeing as he has a nephew,” Felicity remarks curtly. 

She can see Oliver’s eyebrows rise in surprise at her tone, but she ignores both men and grabs her handbag along with the makeshift baby bag she has with some essentials for Lucas. 

Oliver has suddenly been entrusted with a _ baby _ . Oliver, who sometimes chooses to sleep on the floor of the dirty foundry and willing went back to an island call _ purgatory. _ He’s not ready for this, she knows that but she also knows she will not just sit back and watch him fail. If she can help anyway she can, she _ will _.

Even if all of this close proximity is slowly messing with her emotions.

* * *

  
Turns out, Lucas does _ not _ like strangers, or at least he does not do well with anyone who isn’t Oliver, Felicity or Diggle. The moment one of the store clerk addresses Lucas the baby buries his face in Felicity’s neck and refuses to move. 

“I guess I should be glad you didn’t scare him like your dad, uh?” Felicity remarks to the baby with a laugh. A scoff next to her, reminds her that she and Lucas are not alone in the store, despite the fact that Diggle hasn’t said much the entire way to Target. 

After a few minutes of her adding more baby clothes to the shopping cart and tugging a random jacket from Lucas’ sticky hands, she finally turns to Diggle, “Alright, say what you have to say. We’ve been in the store for 20 minutes now and your silence is unnerving to say the least.”

“I was told it’s not my place to comment,” Diggle grunts out from besides her, his abnormally large arms still folded across his chest.

Felicity rolls her eyes, she’s always thought Oliver was the more moodier of the two but John is currently giving him a run for his money, “I know you’re concerned, John. But Oliver has been thrusted into parenthood, something we all know was _ never _ part of his plans. That, on top of trying to balance QC, he’s in over his head and as his partner, his _ friend, _ I want to help him anyway that I can.”

“And you wouldn’t be Felicity Smoak if you didn’t,” Diggle says thoughtfully. He grabs a box tossing it into the cart, at her confused expression, he points at the cover of the box, “Baby sling, allows you to hold him and still have both hands.”

She looks down at her hands, one has a firm grip on Lucas, who refused to go into the shopping cart and the other is pushing said cart. She also knows that was Diggle’s form of an olive branch.

She moves along the aisle Diggle following closely behind, “all I’m saying is, that in less than 24 hours of finding this kid, you and Oliver are suddenly playing house and his kid thinks you’re his _ mother _. Felicity, you have more sense than this, what are you doing?”

“He does not think I’m his mother,” Felicity protests weakly.

At the very same moment, Lucas pats her on her face calling out to her, “Ma?”

“Kid, I’m trying to make a point here,” she says in mock exasperation. She presses a kiss to his little cheek and smiles when he giggles in response. She looks across at Diggle to see her friend giving her a pointed look, “Look, you said it yourself. It’s weird the kid seems to know the three of us but is standoffish with strangers, I don’t get it either. Back to your original point, I know what I’m doing. I’m simply helping out a friend, I don’t expect anything from it and the fact that you would insinuate that I am doing this under false pretenses is frankly offensive, John.”

Diggle, looking properly chastised as he should. She points towards the crib padding at the very top shelf. When he sees the little arrows on the print he sends her an exasperated expression, but tosses it into the cart nonetheless and then picks up their conversation. “I just don’t want you to get hurt, Felicity. Oliver is a good man.”

“The best,” Felicity says with conviction.

“I just don’t think, at this point in time, Oliver has the temperament to raise a kid, run a company, save the city and…”

“I’m not doing all of this so that Oliver would fall in love with me!” Felicity hisses out.

“Of course not,” Diggle says automatically, and she can tell that even _ he _ is offended by her words, “I just don’t want you to get hurt, Felicity.”

He repeats his previous words, but does not elaborate, she knows her friend long enough that he has more to say, but instead he begins to push the shopping cart again, and turns to her expectantly when she does not follow, “What’s next on the list?”

Clearly, the conversation is over, for now.

“Food. We weren’t sure how old he is, but he fits into a 10 month to 12 month diapers, so I’m guessing he’s 9 or 10 months. According to Google he should be eating some solid food, fruit purees, so I want to get some of those. So far we know he likes bananas and he is taking formula with limited resistance.”

“Limited resistance? What does that mean?” Diggle asks in confusion, but then he looks at her in alarm, “Is he still breastfeeding?”

“He _ was _,” Felicity hisses softly, not wanting to alert the baby who is currently staring at a balloon that’s hanging from a display. She’s almost terrified if he hears the conversation he will begin to get fussy. Earlier this morning, they struggled to get him to take the bottle, it was clear he only wanted one thing and the one thing Felicity couldn’t give him.

“Then why does he think you’re…” Diggle trails off looking at Lucas closely, almost as though the baby would be able to answer all their questions. “Does Oliver have any clue who the mother could be? It’s a pretty small window based on his age,”

“He would have knocked her up the day he got back to Starling,” Felicity remarks dryly, “as per his norm, he’s pretty tight lip about it, said he and Tommy had few wild nights the first few weeks he was back. I don’t know how much I believe him, but there is no _ other _ explanation as he’s 100% his kid. Oliver also says it doesn’t matter, what matters is that Lucas is here now and that’s what he’s focused on.”

Diggle does not voice his opinion on that particular detail, but only hums in acknowledgement just as they move into the food aisle, “So, first off, how many teeth does he have? I think I saw a few.”

Felicity bounces Lucas in her arms, earning loud giggles in response and points at Diggle, “Smile for Uncle John, Lucas. Show him all those teeth you have.”

Lucas grins widely at Diggle and babbles in return, “I know he just wants to see how many teeth you have so you get all the good food.”

Lucas babbles again, turning his body to Felicity and she nods as if she could understand him, “Yup, all the good food, fruits and some vegetables. Gotta get big and strong like your Daddy.”

Lucas makes another noise, then babbles excitedly his hands rising in the air as he speaks. Felicity is almost certain by now that he’s trying to say Daddy or some variation of the word. Or she’s probably so enamoured by the baby that she thinks he can do anything.

When Lucas then growls, Felicity laughs wholeheartedly, _ that _ she knows is him imitating Oliver, “Yes, exactly like that.”

She blows a tiny raspberry on Lucas’ cheek but when she pulls back she sees Diggle looking at her with an unreadable expression, “What? I read that you should talk to them like you would with kids or adults it helps with their conversation skills.”

Diggle only hums in response and tosses some baby snacks into the shopping cart. Felicity does not have the energy to pry it out of her friend, nor does she want to get into again. Instead she presses a kiss Lucas’ head and smiles when he snuggles against her.

Neither of them notice the whispered looks they get as they walk through Target, nor do they notice as some people discreetly pull out their phones to take their picture, or more specifically Felicity and Lucas’ picture.

* * *

“Frak, frak, frak!” Felicity hisses from the passenger seat, her phone clutched in her hand. Lucas babbles excitedly from the backseat as she digs through her handbag for her tablet, “I’m so glad he can’t talk.”

“What’s wrong?” Diggle asks with trepidation, “something tells me that this is not about us forgetting something at the store.”

“We have to go to QC. Frak,” Felicity hisses out again, “It’s all over the tabloids, pictures of Lucas and I. Every damn trash magazine in Starling. Oliver Queen’s secretary girlfriend _ and _ child.”

“That’s not good.” Diggle remarks as he switches lanes already making his way towards QC instead of back to Felicity’s apartment.

“This is so not good. Oliver didn’t even want to tell his _ mother _ yet, much less the whole of Starling.” Felicity sighs her leg bouncing nervously as she swipes through article after article, “Well it only took two articles for the vultures to start saying I’m a gold digging tramp. They aren’t even original with these articles. I can do a better job.”

“And you think taking Lucas to the office is the best thing to do? While Oliver is in front of the entire board of directors?” Diggle asks the concern evident in his voice.

Felicity bites her lip in thought, “it would be nice to get Oliver’s input on this _ before _ but the cat is out of the bag and _ lying _ about Lucas is not the way to go. That much I know.”

“And your role in all of this?”

“Oliver can simply tell them I’m _ not _ the mother as everyone assumes. That’s the least of Oliver’s worries at the moment,” Felicity dismisses easily, but despite her words she shifts in her seat unsure how true that is. Lucas proving her point when he calls out to her in a whiny tone.

“Sure,” Diggle says with a skeptical tone as he drivers through QC private car park.

She tries not to think about Oliver’s reaction to her bringing his son to the office. A few times she almost told Diggle to turn around, but she remembers once Thea telling Oliver he needs to deal with rumours head first, otherwise speculation and gossip will be his worst enemy. It was just around the time when she and Diggle convinced Oliver to come back to Starling and there were rumours about Oliver selling the company and giving up the Queen fortune. 

It’s not exactly the same thing, but the point still stands. Or so Felicity _ thinks. _

They go through the back entrance and try to slip into the elevators unnoticed. Diggle is holding Lucas’ brand new baby bag and Felicity has the baby in her arms. 

She’s wearing jeans and a sweater, one of which already has drying spilled milk on it and some mashed peas that were _ not _ a hit with the baby. To put it lightly, she looks a mess and _ not _ office appropriate, despite all this she knows no one is paying attention to _ her _ but are more fixated on the baby in her arms.

She can hear the whispers as her boots click on the linoleum tiles. She’s familiar with these sounds for the past two months after all. Luckily, Lucas is none the wiser, his gaze fixated on all the lights around him. His little head whips around in rapid procession as he takes in his new surroundings. His chubby hand clings to Felicity’s sweater but he is far too focused on everything around them.

When they get in the elevator there are a handful of QC employees all of whom stop talking the moment they walk in. It’s clear news travels fast. Especially, when it comes to the CEO’s illegitimate child with his secretary.

Felicity holds her head up high, making eye contact with anyone willing looking at her. She long ago refused to let the petty, albeit _ jealous _ rumours get the best of her. 

Lucas though is unperturbed at all the stares and babbles loudly in the otherwise quiet elevator. When one of the women behind her giggles in response, Felicity looks over at Diggle who is smirking at the exchange and Felicity can’t help but roll her eyes. Of course Lucas is flirting with one of the women.

Like father, like son.

Once they step off the elevator, Felicity bounces Lucas in her arms to get his attention, she levels him with a less than impressive look, “are you done flirting with the women in elevator, young man?”

Lucas only gives her a tooth grin in response as he babbles at her excitedly, patting her cheek.

“Such a charmer,” Felicity teases leaning forward to press a kiss to his cheek. She loves how much he loves when she does that, his smile widens and his cute dimples are even more prominent, “just like your father.”

The sound of Diggle clearing his throat reminds her that she is _ not _ alone with the baby, “so what’s the game plan?”

Felicity bites her lip, smoothing down Lucas’ blonde hair, “I’ll wait in the office, let Oliver know we’re there. At least this way he has some kind of heads up.”

Diggle nods, but she knows he’s not too keen on this plan of hers, but this is Oliver’s son. He needs to make a decision about what he would like to do and how much he would like others to know. 

Diggle only nods handing her the baby bag before he goes in the opposite direction towards the board rooms. 

When Felicity enters Oliver’s office the glass walls are still frosted over and she breathes a sigh of relief. She deposits the baby bag onto Oliver’s desk and sinks into his chair. Lucas for the most part sits in her lap and slaps the oak desk repeatedly. He tries to reach for some of the nicknacks in front of him but Felicity quickly puts them out of reach, which the baby is not fond of.

He spins around to glare at her, clearly upset then pushes at her to be placed on the floor. Felicity did not pick up a baby mat, but she knows the newly placed rug in the center of the office is relatively clean. 

With a sigh, she walks over to the center of the office and places the baby on the floor. Lucas rises on his hands and knees almost immediately, his little head taking in his new vintage point. He takes a hesitant crawl forward, but then stops to see if Felicity is still watching him. 

He does that a lot, Felicity notices, stops to look back to see if she or Oliver was watching him, especially when he goes towards the TV and Felicity's gadgets after they specifically told him not to.

The baby is quite defiant, and Felicity found it amusing most times, until he hit his head against her coffee table and broke out into tears. She is pretty sure though that she and Oliver were more scared than Lucas after that incident.

“Don’t go under the desk,” Felicity warns looking at Lucas sternly as he inches towards Oliver’s large desk. Lucas comes to halt next to the desk, sitting up as he turns to look at Felicity, he tilts his head to the side almost as though he’s contemplating his next actions, he slaps the back of the desk, then looks at her again, as though he’s checking to see if she’s still watching him. The lip of the desk is small enough that he _ may _ be able to crawl under the desk, but she knows that it’s dark there, and he will not be able to see her from that side, and will not appreciate that. She knows from previous experience.

Previous experience, when he crawled away and she was no longer in his sight and _ not _ previous experience from being under Oliver’s desk.

Felicity shakes her head, she’s going straight to hell for having those kinds of thoughts about her boss… her _ friend _, her friend whose baby she is currently babysitting.

She pulls away from her musing and looks up just in time to see a tiny sock clad foot disappear under Oliver’s desk. Sure enough, within a few seconds Lucas breaks out into loud tears calling out for her.

“Ma! Ma!” 

She quickly makes her way to the other side of the desk and crouches down peering underneath for the baby. Upon seeing her he grins and claps excitedly, the tears stop immediately, to her surprise though, he does not make his way towards her but instead spins around on his little butt and proceeds to crawl out from under the desk.

He’s far too fast for her in such a confined space, and she is unable to stop him without hurting him. Soon as he disappears he starts crying out for her, _ again _.

“You little bugger,” She grumbles, wincing when her knee hits the desk and she makes her way back to the other side of the desk yet again.

Lucas on seeing her cheers again, when she notices he’s about to crawl under the desk _ again, _ she bends down and scoops him up in his arms. Lucas seems putout at the change in plans and frowns at her in displeasure.

“You can be a little grumpy pants like your Daddy,” She teases him, peppering kisses on his cheeks until the baby starts giggling loudly in response.

The sound of a throat clearing startles her and she pulls back just in time to see Oliver making a way towards them a smile on his face. However, directly behind him is Moira Queen, poised as ever and impeccably dressed, her blue eyes are blazing as she stares at Felicity with a calculating look.

“So it’s true then?” Moira is the first to speak, her eyes are now trained on Lucas, who is now in Oliver’s arms and looking at the older woman with a curious expression. Lucas’ chubby little fingers curl around Oliver’s tie, his eyes moving back and forth between Moira and his father. “You knocked up your secretary and now what? You are going to raise this baby while you salvage what’s left of your father’s business? Oliver, I thought you had more sense than this. What were you thinking?”

Felicity can feel Oliver tense besides her and she wants nothing more than to reach out to him, but by the way his mother is watching her, Felicity knows it would only make matters worse.

“Felicity is not his mother,” Oliver replies firmly and Felicity _ hates _ the way her heart clenches at his words, at the _ truth _ . “I don’t know who the mother is. I found him at the club and Felicity helped me look for his parents and that’s how we found out he's my son. But I don’t care who is mother is. He’s my responsibility, he’s my _ son _.”

“Oliver…” Moira says tiredly as she rubs her forehead, but then she sighs, and Felicity can practically see the moment the protest dies on her lips and what can only be fierce determination be replaced. The sudden change in attitude is jarring to say the least. “Alright, we will discuss this further, later, but for now you need to have a better story than, you knocked up some random girl and are now suffering the consequences.”

Felicity can see the way Oliver’s eyebrows are twitching and she places a hand on his shoulder calming him before he says something he will regret. Lucas on seeing her standing so close to Oliver grins and dives for Felicity babbling excitedly completely unaware of the tension in the room.

Moira pauses at this display her blue eyes moving from Felicity to the baby and then back to her son, “we’ll tell the board that this is where you were the past five months. You were looking after your son and once you heard the company was in jeopardy you decide to come back and only recently the baby’s mother who will remain anonymous for her safety decided she could not handle the responsibility and you are going to raise your son on your own.”

“Lucas,” Oliver has numbly looking at his mother in surprise and Felicity knows she has matching expression by the way Moira smirks at both of them.

“You will learn in time that coming up with a good cover story is essential to being CEO,” Moira remarks with a slight tilt of her lip and Felicity is just flabbergasted at the entire exchange, she can see Oliver is not faring any better. Moira seems to dismiss their lack of responses and takes a step towards Felicity, or more specifically Lucas and smiles at the baby warmly, “Now, I'd like you to introduce me to my grandson.”

“So it seems nepotism really is the only way this company knows how to function,” a chilling voice cuts through the room.

The She-demon has returned. 

Felicity knows this is _ not _ going to end well for any of them. 

Sure enough when she looks over her shoulders she sees Isabel Rochev standing at the doorway hands on her hip with a less than impressed expression on her typically pinched face. Diggle stands behind her equally exasperated and Felicity knows he had tried to run interface. 

  
It’s gonna be a _ long _ day


	5. Chapter 5

Felicity sits behind her desk, bouncing Lucas in her lap, her eyes trained on the glass door to Oliver’s office. Lucas seems content with one of the car toys in his hand as he pushes it along her desk, every time the voices in the other room travel to Felicity’s area, he pauses and looks up slightly confused.

“We don’t like her,” Felicity whispers to him, and she jumps when she hears a scoff a few feet away. She looks up to see Diggle standing by the door smirking at her, clearly hearing her exchange with the baby.

She only shrugs her shoulders in response, Diggle knows well how she feels about the woman. She tickles Lucas right under his chin and the baby breaks out into peels of laughter, she goes to do it again, but then remembers the hiccup incident earlier this morning and refrains.

When he starts to get restless Felicity rises to her feet and begins to pace the small area in front of her desk. She knows he wants to be let down, but her area just is not clean enough for him to be crawling around like before.

When the office door slams open both Felicity and Lucas jump in surprise, the baby stills almost immediately as Isabel comes stalking out the office. She takes one look at the pair and her scowl intensifies, Felicity can feel Lucas tense in her arms and he quickly turns away burying his face in her neck.

A few seconds later Oliver comes out of the room looking equally unimpressed with Isabel. Felicity can see the way his fingers twitch at his side, a sure sign that he’s very close to losing his cool. 

“Isabel, my son and I will meet you in the boardroom in 5 minutes,” Moira says briskly as she follows behind Oliver, “I trust that you don’t need Mr. Diggle to escort you there.”

Felicity has never seen a person face that shade of red before, and if Moira Queen was a high five kind of woman Felicity would have been raising her hand high to congratulate her on that accomplishment.

“Don’t be late. It’s bad enough the board has to be constantly waiting on you every single meeting. They should not have to wait for a  _ baby _ as well.” She says the word baby with such disdain, her scowl intensifying when she glances at Lucas again before she stomps out of the room.

“Always need to get the last word,” Moira remarks dryly, not even remotely ruffled by Isabel’s display, unlike Oliver who is still scowling.

“That was  _ awesome _ . If she were a cartoon she would have had steam coming from her ears,” Felicity gushes, but sobers immediately when Moira locks eyes with her.

Oliver though breaks out into a smile at her words and walks towards her and Lucas, his hand moving to her back. Felicity breath hitches at his touch and he immediately removes his hand, the exchange not lost to Oliver’s mother whose eyes sweep across from Oliver to Felicity and finally to Lucas who is now peaking out from Felicity’s neck looking at Moira curiously.

“Thank you, Ms. Smoak,” Moira remarks curtly, and Felicity immediately clamps up, “Can I meet my grandson now?”

“Oh,” Felicity squeaks out, her eyes seeking out Oliver’s and he looks at her apologetically as he takes Lucas from her.

“Hey buddy, there is someone I want you to meet,” Oliver coaxes out gently to his son, rubbing the baby’s back. Lucas eyes are still trained on Felicity clearly put out that she is no longer standing next to them, but now a few feet away.

“Hi Lucas,” Moira calls out tentatively all previous bite in her tone completely gone, and Felicity can see the way the way the older woman’s eyes soften soon as the baby looks at her. Felicity knows that feeling all too well. “Oh, Oliver he looks exactly like you did as a baby, chubby little thing with endless baby rolls.”

Felicity bites back a giggle at that description, her grin widening when she sees the soft blush on Oliver’s cheeks. Moira opens her arms tentatively, but Lucas only tightens his grip on Oliver’s tie, still unsure, to everyone’s surprise he turns his head to look at  _ Felicity _ for reassurance. Felicity’s eyes widen in surprise but quickly makes her way back, her eyes focused on the baby. “Lucas, this is your grandma. Say hi.”

Lucas looks from Felicity to Moira, and then tilts his head to the side in contemplation, he then raises one cubby little hand and touches Moira’s shoulder, “Hi!”

“Oh!” Moira gasps, rubbing Lucas’ knuckles.

“Did you know he could do that?” Oliver asks Felicity his eyes twinkling in delight.

“No! I guess he knows two words then?” Felicity replies with a laugh, this baby is full of surprises just like his father.

“Two words?” Moira asks curiously her interest peaked, but her attention is still on her grandson who is now smiling at her.

Felicity looks across alarm at Oliver who immediately catches on and hands the baby over Moira. Both Moira and Lucas seem surprised, but the baby sees her pearl necklace and is immediately distracted. Oliver presses a hand to his mother’s back ushering her to the door as she speaks, “I’ll tell you later, we should get going. Isabel might be a pain in the ass but she’s right we don’t want to keep the board waiting.”

“Oh yes,” Moira says distractedly her focus still on the baby, or so Felicity thinks until she calls out to her, “Ms. Smoak, please cancel my son’s meetings for the rest of the day. I would like to spend the afternoon with him and my grandson.”

“Right away Mrs. Queen.” Felicity stutters out in surprise at being addressed.

“Shall we go and get this over with?” Moira asks her son just as she steps out of the room, neither of them noticing that Lucas’ eyes are trained on Felicity.

“That’s not going to end well,” Diggle quips clearly noticing the baby’s focus and sure enough as soon as they are out of sight a loud cry is heard.

“ _ Ma!” _ Lucas tiny voice rings outside in the corridor. Felicity winces as his cries get louder and she is sure more and more people are popping up from their cubicles and offices alike.

After a few seconds Oliver comes back into view, Lucas now in his arms, the baby ‘s head peering over Oliver’s shoulders clearly looking for Felicity. Moira is trailing behind Oliver, her mouth moving but Felicity can’t hear what the older woman is saying but she does not look pleased.

“Ma!” Lucas calls out eagerly to her, his little arms outstretched and Felicity pointedly ignores Moira’s surprised expression making a beeline for the baby. 

Lucas practically jumps in her arms and Felicity automatically rubs his back, pressing a kiss to his head in comfort, “I got you, baby.”

“Oliver, you told me this woman was not the mother,” Moira says curtly, “If Isabel and the board get wind of this…”

“Her name is  _ Felicity _ ,” Oliver replies shortly cutting off his mother mid rant, “She is not, but she was there when I found Lucas and Lucas has grown attached to her. Even if he wasn’t attached to her, Felicity is my friend and she has been an  _ enormous _ help. I would appreciate it if you spoke to her with respect.”

Felicity buries her face in Lucas soft blonde hair, unable to look at the older woman in the eye. Lucas seems to think she’s playing a game with him and rubs his face against Felicity’s. He raises his head and presses his chin into hers.

“Ms. Smoak... _ Felicity _ , I apologize for my curtness, would you like to join us for lunch?” Moira asks Felicity politely. She does not wait for Felicity to respond, but instead takes Oliver by the arms, “C’mon son, you will inform the board of the latest development and ask that they give you some time to adjust to this new role in your life and we will meet Lucas and Felicity back here in 20 minutes and then four of us can head out for lunch.”

With that said Moira ushers them out of the room leaving Lucas with Felicity, Oliver’s confused expression is the last thing Felicity sees before he rounds the corner with this mother. She looks down at Lucas to see the baby waving at their retreating figures, once they disappear he looks back at Felicity and smiles, “Hi!”

“Did you know how to say that all this time?” Felicity asks him with a laugh, Lucas only repeats the word again before he breaks out in loud babbles.

“Are you ready for lunch with Moira Queen?” Diggle calls out with concern.

“Should I have said no?” Felicity asks him, biting her lip in thought, “It seems like more of a family thing, I don’t think she particularly  _ wants _ me there.”

“She did not exactly give you time to  _ reject _ her invitation,” Diggle points out, his words having the opposite effect of reassuring her. “Besides, I do not think Moira Queen is someone that takes no for an answer anyway.”

“Right,” Felicity says with a nod. She bounces the baby in her arms and looks at Lucas seriously, “I can do this. I got this.”

Lucas babbles back in response and Felicity laughs as she presses a kiss to his cheek, “Thanks for believing in me, kid.”

“You’re only having lunch with your boss’ mother and son. You have nothing to be nervous about, right?”Diggle calls out to her with a knowing tone.

They both know her nervousness has  _ nothing _ to do with what Diggle has said. But the past 24 hours has already gotten to Felicity and she just snaps.

“What do you want me to say, John? That I am nervous because I’m in love with her son? That I might be falling in love with Oliver’s son as well and I am  _ so _ in over my head I don’t know what I’m doing? But I really just need this woman to like me so I can be in both their lives?” Felicity takes a deep breath, trying to calm her already frayed nervous when Lucas places a hand on her face and presses an open mouth kiss on her cheek, the baby clearly noticing her distress. 

“Felicity.”

Felicity shakes her head, wiping away a stray tear, “John, I just need you to stop telling me how much this is going to blow up in my face and just be supportive. My crazy emotions aside, Oliver is going through an even harder time and when this...when it hits him how  _ permanent _ all this is he’s going to need help. He’s going to need help to stay grounded, seven months ago he ran away to  _ literal _ hell when he blamed himself for Tommy’s death. I don’t want him to get to that point with Lucas. If he does something like that, he will never forgive himself, and Lucas can’t suffer because of that. I need to help him and I need you to stop telling me this is a bad idea and be  _ supportive _ .”

“Okay, okay.” Diggle says calmly, and Felicity knows he’s clearly worried, but she also realizes that she has scared Lucas and the baby is now looking at her with concern.

She’s wiping away the last of her tears when she sees Oliver and Moira making their way back to the office. Oliver picks up almost immediately that something is wrong, but before he can ask Lucas bounces eagerly in Felicity’s hand to try to get to his father.

“How did it go?” Felicity asks, her voice never wavering and there is no indication that she almost had a breakdown a few minutes ago.

Oliver still seems to suspect something is up, but Moira smiles warmly at her, “Well, the board was understanding of Oliver’s current predicament and I will be acting CEO for the next few weeks while Oliver focuses on his son.”

“She-demon probably  _ loved _ that,” Felicity mutters dryly, and her eyes widen in horror when she realizes she spoke her thoughts out loud.

Oliver snorts in amusement, hiding his smile against Lucas’ neck while Moira only smirks in response, “Isabel is slowly learning that she won't always get what she wants. Now, shall we go to lunch?”

* * *

They go to a small, kid-friendly deli, that’s not too crowded. The lunch is going well, much better than Felicity expects. She and Oliver take turns feeding Lucas some mashed potatoes and fish, the baby seems to enjoy more food than they originally thought he could, and with most things Oliver and Felicity work like a well oiled machine. An observation she knows Oliver’s mother has picked up on, by the way her blue eyes follow Felicity’s every move. 

Felicity feels as though she’s under a microscope, the entire lunch feeling far more intimidating than her college admission interview.

Felicity is almost ready to kick herself for being worried about the lunch until Moira turns them both for a loop when she declares that Oliver should consider putting Lucas up for adoption.

_ Then _ all hell breaks loose.

“He’s your  _ grandson _ !” Oliver hisses across the table angrily at his mother.

“Oliver,” Felicity calls out calmly, she can see they are slowly beginning to gather an audience.

Lucas who is sitting between Oliver and Felicity in a high chair stops playing with his mashed potatoes to look at his father with wide frightened eyes.

Oliver takes a deep breath and leans back against this chair, but despite this Felicity can practically see the anger rolling off of him.

“Oliver, I only have his best interest at heart. You are not ready to raise a child, you are barely functioning as an adult since returning last year. You are still healing.”

Felicity frowns at the older woman’s words, she can slowly see Oliver’s defenses slowly chipping away with each word thrown his way.

“He is my son.” Oliver replies firmly, his voice only wavering slightly, “I will not  _ abandon  _ him like his mother did, just because he showed up in a less than ideal time. If there is anything you and dad taught me, is that family is precious and we don’t give up on family. I cannot even begin to understand what you have been through in the last 8 months in jail mom, but Lucas is  _ my _ family and if you do not want him in this family it means you do not want  _ me  _ in this family. I am not abandoning my family.”

“Oliver, you need to see reason…”

“No, Mom,  _ you _ need to stop expecting me to live my life the way  _ you _ want me too,” Oliver snaps back, his voice rising. He can see Lucas staring at him with wide eyes, food falling from his mouth. “I’m not abandoning my family.”

With those final words, Felicity rises to her feet while simultaneously wiping away the last bit of mashed potatoes from Lucas’ face. She unbuckles the baby and places him on her hip, “Mrs Queen, thank you for lunch but we will be leaving now.”

She deposits Lucas’ baby bag into Oliver’s arms which stirs him to life and he also rises to his feet. They make eye contact for a brief second before Oliver ushers her and Lucas out of the restaurant never once looking back.

“Felicity, I….”

Oliver starts but Felicity shakes her head stopping in him his tracks, “don’t apologize for her.”

Oliver nods and they both slide into the back seat of the car Diggle giving them curious looks when it appears Moira would not be joining them on the car ride home.

Even Lucas seems to realize something is wrong and the toddler sits quietly between them not once making a sound.

* * *

Oliver sits on Felicity’s couch, his eyes are trained on the silent television in front of him. He can hear Felicity and Lucas in the bathroom and he knows he should get up and help but his mother’s words keep looming over him, paralyzingly him.

He hates that every single one of his concerns she pointed out and threw it in his face. He hates that she gave him false pretenses about her feelings towards his son, but most of all he hates that she might be right.

He has no place raising a baby.

He told Felicity a few weeks ago that because of the life he leads he couldn’t be with someone he cares about and he meant it. How is he supposed to raise a baby with this kind of life. He was perfectly fine with the notion that he might not make it home one night, but now he has this whole other person to look after, to care for. The idea of not making it home at night is not an option.

“See Lucas, I told you he was brooding,” Felicity teasing voice calls out pulling Oliver from his musings. She deposits the freshly showered baby onto Oliver lap and Lucas immediately grabs onto Oliver’s shirt pulling himself up to stand so that he is eye level with Oliver. 

Oliver can’t help but smile at the round chubby cheeks and blue eyes staring back at him. He’s reminded why he needs to do this.

“She’s wrong, you know,” Felicity says breaking the silence. She sits on the coffee table staring back at Oliver, not in sympathy like he expected but determination.

“Felicity, I have no clue what I’m doing,” he replies pathetically. 

Lucas seems to have grown bored of sitting on his lap and inches his way back down to the floor. He stands on his chubby legs gripping Oliver’s knee with one hand and the other holding onto Felicity’s hand as he starts to bounce.

“Pretty sure that’s the general consensus for all first time parents,” Felicity counters. Lucas’ hair is still slightly damn from his bath and she leans forward styling the short wisps of hair in the middle till they are all pointing upward, giving the baby a bit of a Mohawk.

Felicity giggles at the hairstyle and at the same time Lucas turns to Oliver and Oliver can’t help but laugh in return. The ache in his chest easing somewhat at the sound of her laugh mixed with those chubby cheeks smiling back at him. 

“He deserves the best though,” Oliver whispers softly finally voicing his fear of failing, failing his son. “I don’t know if I’m what’s best for him.”

“Don’t you think you owe it to yourself and  _ him _ to see if you are?” Felicity replies reasonably, she probably sees the continued doubt in Oliver’s face and quickly continues, “I mean you’ve been barely at this for more than 12 hours. You deserve...Lucas deserves you to at least  _ try _ how you even gonna know if you can do this if you don’t try.”

“He’s not a puppy, Felicity,” Oliver grumbles. 

He hates that she can even think that taking care of his son would be something he should try out as though he could just  _ return _ him if it does not work out.

_ Oh. _

He looks at her to see she’s smiling knowing, clearly waiting for him to connect the dots. 

She just believes in him so much, and he wishes he had a fraction of her faith in himself. Felicity scoots closer to him, their knees basicallly trapping Lucas between them and the baby giggles loudly as he slaps their legs. 

She takes Oliver’s hand in hers squeezing it tightly, “Don’t let your mother dictate how you live your life, or Lucas’. If you know deep in your heart this is where you want him to be, to be with you. Then don’t let anyone else tell you differently.”

She’s right, because of course she is, but he knows it will only take time before he truly believes her.

The conversation is cut short however when Lucas whines loudly and pushes at both their legs so that he can get on the floor. The moment his little knees hit the floor he takes off. 

“He’s  _ really _ fast.” Oliver says with a laugh watching as the baby stops on the other side of the living room. 

“I think he’s gotten used to his new environment,” Felicity offers, a smile tugging on her lips as she watches the baby crawl back towards them, then changes his mind halfway there and heads off towards the bedroom.

“I don’t even have a place for him,” Oliver replies horrified, “I need to look for somewhere for us,”

“Hey,” Felicity calls out gently taking his hand, the feel of her fingertips against his knuckles soothing him, “one thing at a time. You and Lucas have a place here as long as you need.”

He wants to protest but she levels him with a look that he knows she won’t want to hear it. So instead he squeezes her hand and looks at her gratefully, “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Felicity says sincerely, her eyes flicker to Oliver’s lip then back to his eyes and Oliver’s heart ceases. 

He finds himself leaning towards her but just as their knees brush a loud cry interrupts them. Felicity releases Oliver’s hands and is up on her feet in a flash. 

“I didn’t think he would venture into another room without us,” she says frantically, already making her way towards the bedroom. She runs her fingers through her hair slightly frazzled and when their eyes meet briefly before she disappears into her bedroom he wonders if she is as affected by that moment they shared as much as he is.

She comes back a few seconds later and Lucas is babbling to he excitedly. 

“I know, but you can’t go crawling off without a license.” She tells him reasonably, Lucas responding back almost indignantly, which is impossible, “nope you are only allowed to roam in the living room. Otherwise of to baby jail you go.”

Oliver grins as Lucas’ arms go up in clear annoyance, he pushes at her shoulder and then waves his hand again. He loves watching them interact, Felicity is a natural with the baby, not that Oliver is surprised but Lucas seems to have taken to her just as quickly too.

He spies Oliver and grins excitedly making a dive for him, startling Felicity to say the least. Oliver takes him easily enough but he still surprises Oliver each time he eagerly goes to him, each time he is excited to see Oliver.

“I got a playpen, but not a crib,” Felicity says suddenly as she moves to the massive pile of things she got for Lucas on the other side of the living room. 

Oliver is not quite sure a baby needs  _ all  _ those things but he would not voice that. Not after everything Felicity has done for him and his son in the last 24 hours.

“I figured a crib is something you would want to choose yourself and you know when you have a place for the two of you,” Felicity explains, she grabs a soft plush ball that jingles catching Lucas’ attention immediately and she tosses it over to them the baby clapping excitedly in return. “Not that I’m trying to get rid of the two of you. No you can stay as long as you want. It’s an open ended invitation...I mean however long you need.” 

She huffs in exasperation, counting down under her breath as she turns back to the pile of stuff. After a few seconds she turns back around and holds up a onesie a  _ green _ onesie with an apple and an arrow through it saying “apple of my daddy’s heart.”

“Cute,” Oliver says with a laugh over the sound of the jingles from Lucas’ toy. 

“I may have gone a little overboard with the clothes,” Felicity says as she tugs two huge bags from baby Gap towards him, “but you did give me free reign on your credit card. Which quite frankly you need to take back, that’s way too much power. I’d go nuts in a RadioShack.”

“Ma!” Lucas calls out to Felicity and throws the ball at her which she catches immediately.

“Wow! Good arm little dude!” Felicity cheers and Lucas claps excitedly before her drops for the floor to crawl towards her.

She drops to the floor meeting him halfway and Lucas throws himself at her and Felicity laughs loudly as Lucas cheers in excitement.

Oliver can watch these two all day, he unbuttons the last bit of his shirt and tugs it off tossing it to the side. Once he’s comfortable, he crawls over to the other side of the room to join Lucas and Felicity picking up one of the many toys she bought for him.

Upon seeing him, Lucas cheers excitedly and it brings a smile to his face and when he looks across at Felicity he can see she’s wearing a matching smile both clearly glad that he decided to join them. 

Here in this moment with these two is what he chooses to focus on. 

The rest of it will just fall into place, hopefully.

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

“Lucas, no!” Felicity calls out sternly, grabbing the chubby little hands that were making a grab for her keyboard, “We discussed this, if you can’t stop touching my things I’m gonna spin you around so you’re stuck just watching my face for the rest of the night.”

She is sitting at her desk in the foundry Lucas strapped to her chest courtesy of the baby sling. Surprisingly, the baby seems okay with being restricted the way he is, but his obvious exhaustion is evident by the way he cries out in protest at Felicity’s firm words.

“Felicity, everything okay?” Oliver calls out tensely over the comms as gun shots ring out in the background.

“Yes!” Felicity squeaks out in surprise, forgetting that the comms were still active, “you focus on the bad guys I will deal with your cranky son. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?”

“Felicity,” Oliver only grunts out her name before he turns his focus back on his opponents. She quickly muted the microphone and slips the baby out of the baby sling depositing him on the table, her eyes narrowing at the cranky baby. “What’s the problem mister Queen?”

Lucas stops crying to peer back her, blue eyes blinking owlishly in return. She tilts her head to the side, studying him thoughtfully and she has to bite back a grin when Lucas follows her tilting his head in the opposite direction. 

“Well I’ll be damned,” a familiar voice calls out startling Felicity, she looks across to see Diggle watching them in amusement. 

“Hi!” Lucas chirps at him excitedly, little arm reach out to Diggle his chubby little fingers curling in and out and Felicity wonders if he’s trying to wave.

“Hey little man,” Diggle greets he raises his hand to the baby and Lucas slaps it excitedly. The grin the baby sends her melts Felicity’s heart all over again. “I never thought I’d see the day when this place would turn into a nursery. I was giving you and Oliver at least five years before you had little mini me’s taking over this place.

He’s holding a stuffed husky in his hand a knowing smirk gracing his lips.

“We...Oliver and I are  _ not _ like that, John.” Felicity protests weakly. “I’m just helping Oliver out.”

“I know,” her friend’s tone shows that he does not believe her for a second, “but I mean just in general I always expected to see this set up somewhere down the line.”

Felicity splutters at his implication, “you have an active imagination, John.”

“Sure, you’ve got a runaway by the way.” John points to Lucas who had crawled off her lap onto the floor and making his way to the wires under the desk.

“Watch it, Speedy!” Felicity says with a laugh quickly scooping up the baby. She pauses then turns to Diggle in realization, “I wonder if  _ that’s  _ where Oliver got the nickname from? Did you take after your Aunt Thea?”

To both her and John’s surprise Lucas perks up at the name and looks around the room eagerly. John frowns, “has he met Thea yet?”

“No, after Moira was...well  _ Moira,  _ Oliver and Lucas kind of camped out at my place for the time being. I am not sure if Thea even knows about Lucas,” Felicity wrinkles her nose in thought not understand how this baby seems so  _ familiar  _ to all of them and the people in their lives. By the look on John’s face it seems like he is thinking the same thing.

Nothing is making sense.

“Felicity?” Oliver sudden frantic voice echoes in the room and Lucas looks at her with a smile his blue eyes widening in recognition.

“Ah!” Lucas calls out and Felicity is now 100% certain that the baby is calling out to his father.

“Oliver! Everything okay?” Felicity calls out unmuting her comms. “I muted my side so we didn’t distract you.”

There was some shuffling and then Oliver’s voice echoes around the room, “Okay, I just dropped off some these guys for Lance. I should be back soon. How’s Lucas, I guess the plan to put him to sleep fell through?”

“Yea, hopefully the ride home will help. See you soon.”

“He probably just needs a familiar environment. I’ll see you guys soon.”

Felicity turns off the comms and bounces the baby in her arms, pausing at John’s knowing smirk, “shut up, John.”

“I didn’t say a thing,” John replies holding up both hands in defense, he grins when Lucas follows him raising both his hands clearly waiting for John to give him a double high five.

“Yes well your face says  _ many _ things,” Felicity huffs, her stomach churning, she knows exactly what her friend is implying. 

She replays her conversation with Oliver, suddenly her tiny little apartment was home for Oliver and his son and she does not know when that happened, and why is she not freaking out more about it?

* * *

Oliver pushes open the oak door with ease, his ears perking up and listening out for any movements within the mansion.

He only came back to the house to get more clothes, he’s been using and washing the same two boxers and gym clothes for the past few days. It was time to get more clothes so he was not parading around in Felicity’s apartment in just his boxers. Not that he thinks Felicity minds per se, but it’s common courtesy.

His mother has not tried to contact him and vice versa. He had wanted to get in and out of the mansion undetected but Felicity had veto that idea when she specifically told him to not sneak through the windows like some kind of ninja.

So here he is using the front door as requested instead of scaling the walls like he originally planned.

His worry was all for naught because the mansion is in darkness no hint of either his mother or his sister. 

The latter he had only gotten a text when the news broke about his son, but she was out of the city for the past few days and it was the only reason she has not met her nephew yet. A few pictures and videos placating the teenager until she returned from her trip.

His mother on the hand has been uncharacteristically silent. He thought for sure he would have gotten a phone call asking for him to meet with her and discuss  _ her _ thoughts on the matter further. But yet there has been no contact from his mother, it’s a bit disconcerting to say the least.

He’s in the middle of packing his second bag when he feels a presence behind him. He’s just about to grab the nearby lamp when he spies his mother's reflection in the mirror in front of him.

“Mom, it’s too late to get into it. I just came by to get some clothes,” Oliver says tiredly as he stuffs a few more T-shirts into his bag.

“Is this really what you want, Oliver?” His mother asks him calmly, she’s not protesting or contradicting him but Oliver is still wary.

“Yes,” Oliver replies with conviction and without any hesitation. It’s only been a few days but he can’t imagine his life without Lucas, he does not want to even consider it. “Yes, I do. This is not like before, Mom.”

He can see the way his mother tenses, and he assumes she’s thinking about that fateful night almost 8 years when he came to her close to tears that he had gotten a girl pregnant. 

“I’m not the same boy was back then, Mom. I want to be his father, I’m  _ ready  _ to be his father.” Oliver says with earnest and he wants her to understand that he means what he says. Lucas is going to be in his life for good.

“What about the mother?” His mother sounds resigned, but Moira is not anything if not thorough.

“I still don’t know, when Felicity finds her, I will deal with that then. My only priority is Lucas.”

“And Ms. Smoak?”

This time it’s quite obvious what his mother is asking and it’s the one question Oliver cannot answer.

“Felicity is my friend,” he can see the disbelief on his mother’s face as he continues, “She has been helping me a lot with Lucas and I don’t want to assume anything.”

“I see the way she looks at you, Oliver.” His mother’s tone is not accusatory but instead of understanding. Her eyes soften as she looks at  _ him _ in understanding, “more importantly I see the way  _ you _ look at her.”

“Mom…”

“Your son has already adopted her as his surrogate mother,” His mother pushed on through, never one to hold back her thoughts. “I’m just saying what’s going to happen when you find your own place? Or move back into the mansion, which by the way there is enough room for you and Lucas. I’m sure Thea would love to get to know her nephew.”

It’s a dirty trick to use his sister against him but his mother does make a point. What  _ does _ happen when he finds his own place for him and his son? Yes it does not mean that Felicity will suddenly not be in their lives, but she won’t be there  _ all _ the time. 

Is Lucas ready for that kind of separation? Is  _ he _ ready to be away from her after they have set up this weird domesticity the last few days.

“I think it’s time  _ you _ think about Ms. Smoak’s significance in your life and not just Lucas,” His mother says knowingly. “Starting with dinner, here in the mansion. Thea will be back from her trip and it’s the perfect occasion. Ms. Smoak is of course welcome to join us.”

His mother is  _ smiling _ now, she knows she has him figured out when Oliver himself is torn. Moira takes a step towards him and presses a kiss to his forehead. “I look forward to seeing all three of you Friday night.”

With those final words she sends him a knowing smile and walks out of his bedroom with a soft swoosh of her robe.

He thinks his mother just played him and he does not even know  _ how _ .

* * *

Oliver wakes to the sound of soft familiar whining, the living room is still relatively dark. When his eyes flutter open he sees matching blue eyes staring back him, chubby cheeks pressed against the white mesh of the playpen.

Oliver snorts at the image his son makes, the affectionate term ‘baby jail’ coined by Felicity, comes to mind immediately. 

The sun is barely peeking into the living room and Oliver squints at the displeased baby who continues to whine to get Oliver’s attention, “you should be asleep.”

Lucas only whines again, he has yet to start crying and Oliver assumes he wants the attention but is not in any kind of distress.

“Ah!” Lucas calls out. Felicity insist that he is trying to say Da, but Oliver suspects she only feels bad because Lucas two word vocabulary only consists of a greeting and addressing  _ her _ .

When Lucas calls get loudly Oliver finally sits up, his back protesting at Felicity’s less than comfortable couch,“shh you’re gonna wake up Felicity.”

Lucas grabs the top of the playpen and pulls himself into a standing position peering across at Oliver thoughtfully, “Ma?”

Oliver nods, eventually he will start to correct him as per Felicity’s insistence, but what Felicity does not know won’t hurt her. “Yes, she’s sleeping,”

He places a finger to his mouth and Lucas sticks his tongue out at Oliver blowing him a raspberry.

The kid is such a character with so much personality, up until now he didn’t even know that’s babies even had personalities much less one so vibrant. Oliver never really gave babies much thought. In fact other than that scare he had years ago before the island, he just never gave them any consideration other than he really hoped he never had one.

When he came back from the island he committed himself to hood and the cause and accept that finding someone, creating a family with them was never in the cards.

He has zero pretenses on the kind of man he became and the kind of man he cannot be for someone else.

Now he has this whole other person that is relying on him to be the man that he never thought he could be.

It’s scary to say the least. But his conversation with his mother the previous night still rings true, he wants this. He wants to be Lucas’ father.

_ Felicity _ however is a whole other can of worms that  _ terrifies  _ him.

“Ah!” Lucas calls again bouncing in the spot his little fingers gripping the edge of the playpen tightly.

Oliver takes the short step towards Lucas and scoops him up before the baby can get louder, “Sh, we don’t want to wake up Felicity.”

“Ma!” Lucas declares, and Oliver is beginning to realize that Lucas seems to know Felicity by  _ name _ as well.

“Yes, now let's make some breakfast for M...Felicity,” Oliver winces Felicity will be so upset if he starts calling her that. 

Lucas babbles back at him excitedly, and Oliver shakes his head it’s far too early for him to be  _ this  _ energetic. Oliver shakes his head and makes his way into the kitchen, Lucas’ blue eyes are taking in the new surroundings, but he’s yet to try to get out of Oliver’s arms which Oliver takes as a bonus.

Oliver glances around the kitchen and frowns when he does not see any fruits or bread. He goes to the fridge and pauses at the sight that greets him. There are  _ mountains _ of take out containers which is more his fault as they have been ordering out the past few days. a half empty bottle of milk for Lucas, various baby food in jars and what looks like rotten vegetables. Other than getting Lucas’ food he hasn’t really paid that much attention too Felicity’s fridge, preferring to give her, her space. 

Case in point why he insisted on sleeping on the couch and setting up Lucas’ playpen in the living room next to him.

“Ma lives like a frat boy,” Oliver declares to Lucas. The baby quirks his eyebrows at Oliver then looks back in the direction of Felicity’s bedroom. “How has she functioned the last 25 years?”

Lucas babbles in return and Oliver nods, “I think we need to do some grocery. Think you’re up to a little road trip with your old man?”

Lucas babbles in response and Oliver takes that as confirmation. There is a small store within walking distance to Felicity’s apartment, so he dresses the baby and heads out, halfway to the store he mentally adds  _ stroller _ to his list of things he needs for Lucas.

Lucas though enjoys being in Oliver’s arms and watching the orange and red colours of the last bit of autumn as they walk through a nearby park.

“We’ll come and play in the park later today,” Oliver promised pressing a kiss to Lucas head. He sees a few parents running with their strollers and some even pulling along dogs and Oliver wonders if Lucas would like a dog.

He barely has a handle on this parenting thing and already he’s thinking about adding a dog to the mix.

Felicity would say that he is looking towards the future so that’s a positive thing.

Oliver shakes his head as his mind automatically goes back to his blonde partner yet again. He needs to stop doing that, stop constantly thinking about her. The problem is he’s been doing it far longer than he cares to admit and way before Lucas ever showed up.

Oliver is suddenly pulled out of his musing by a chubby hand patting his cheek. He looks down to see Lucas sending him a two tooth smile, little dimples more prominent than normal.

His blond hair is flopping to the side and Oliver’s breath catches in his throat when all he sees is  _ Felicity _ .

He really needs to stop doing that too, stop trying to see something that’s not there.

On entering the grocery store Lucas suddenly lights up and eagerly goes to sit inside the child holder of the shopping cart. His little eyes dance in delight as he looks around the store eager.

The kid seems to enjoy going to the grocery store, go figure.

Definitely not Felicity’s child, or so Oliver tells himself as tries to push his delusions of Felicity’s place in Lucas’ life away.

* * *

“Oliver, what is all of this?” Felicity asks her voice still sleep laden but full of awe. 

She’s dressed in her Russian dolls pajama pants and a thin mint green tank top, her blonde hair is out of its usual ponytail and a slightly curly mess. Oliver loves that he gets to see this side of her now, even if it will be short lived. 

“Hi baby!” Felicity greets Lucas excitedly, the baby sitting in his brand new high chair eating some freshly cut bananas and apples

“Lucas and I are so grateful for all that you’ve done for us these past few days. We thought we would make you some breakfast,” Oliver says with a sheepish grin his cheeks pinking up in embarrassment, “ and you know, you live like a frat boy and Lucas thinks you shouldn’t be living off of chicken nuggets and takeout.”

Felicity smiles at his words, her head peeking into her fridge before she turns back to them, “oh did he now? How thoughtful of Lucas to fully stock my fridge. If only he knew I can barely boil water.”

Oliver takes a bold step towards Felicity, almost crowding her personal space, “Lucas figured as much, so he thought he could cook for you, seeing as you’re letting him stay here and you know make up for peeing on you.”

He’s flirting with Felicity, he has made a promise to himself when she joined the team the previous year that he would stop flirting with her. Stop treating her like any other woman and treat her like his partner, his equal. Except, she is  _ not _ just any other woman, she is the  _ only _ woman he wants to flirt with.

“Lucas is lucky he’s so cute. I don’t just let any guy pee on me,” Felicity  _ flirts  _ back, but her nose wrinkles in annoyance when her brain catches up with her mouth and she sighs, “not that I would  _ let _ a guy pee on me. That’s  _ not _ sexy. Uh we were doing that right? The flirty flirt? I wasn’t just imagining it?” 

Oliver gulps at her words not expecting her to call him  _ out _ on his flirting much less return it in kid, “No I was...I mean we were…”

Felicity quirks an eyebrow at his stuttering, but takes a step  _ towards _ him instead of away, “Usually I’m the one talking in sentence fragments.”

“Felicity…”Oliver huffs, more annoyed with himself than anything, Felicity’s hopeful expression falters at his hesitants, and he wants anything to fix this. But then Lucas seems to have gotten tired of being ignored and slaps the table loudly calling out to Felicity.

“Saved by the baby,” Felicity says with a sheepish smile. She looks at Oliver with understanding, she’s giving him an out and he  _ hates _ it.

He had not planned on flirting with Felicity, but when she returned his sentiments in kind he couldn’t help but  _ wonder.  _ He wonders if she also feels the same way about  _ him. _

Lucas insistent banging on his high chair pulls Oliver from his dangerous thoughts, Oliver smiles at his son, “I thought we said we were gonna wait for Felicity to have breakfast together, little man.”

“What did you make me for breakfast?” Felicity asks Lucas sweetly, pressing a kiss to his cheek and laughing when she gets a face full of bananas.

Oliver takes that as his cue however and brings the two plates along with Lucas’ own bowl of scrambled eggs to her with a flourish. His cheeks reddening at Felicity’s surprise little gasp.

“Wow, that’s quite a spread,” Felicity says, and this time she’s not addressing the baby, but Oliver. Their breakfast consists of omelette with toast and sliced up fruit, nothing too fancy, or so Oliver  _ thought _ but its clear by Felicity’s expression it’s far more than she expected and it warms Oliver’s heart the way she practically preens at the display.

“It’s no big deal, we just wanted to do something nice for you, for letting us stay here,” Oliver replies hiding behind not only his son, but his reason for making her breakfast in the first place.

Felicity eyes only twinkle in delight and she leans forward to press another kiss to Lucas cheek and then to Oliver’s surprise she takes a step towards him rises on her tiptoes and kisses him softly on the cheek as well, “Thank you. I’ve never had anyone make me breakfast before.”

Oliver smiles widely at her words, but the moment is interrupted again when Lucas cries out to them impatiently to them. They both laugh and Felicity takes Lucas bowl from the tray of food, “I hear you, Mr. Queen. So testy like your daddy.”

Oliver huffs out in mild amusement, he’s just about to point out how  _ she _ is the one that gets cranky when she doesn’t eat, but he catches himself just before opens his mouth.

“Oliver,” Felicity calls out softly, her eyebrows wrinkling in concern at the way he’s just standing in the kitchen the tray of food in his hands, “C’mon let’s eat. I can feed Lucas while you eat.”

“I should do that,” Oliver protests as places her food in front of her and takes a seat next to her.

“No you made breakfast, I’ll feed him. Partners.” Felicity says happily already turning her attention to the cranky baby. Oliver’s breath catching in his throat at the implications of her words, but she seems unaware that she basically said they were partners as  _ parents _ as well.

Her comment does brings him back to his mother’s invitation something he has yet to bring up to her, “I actually ran into my mother last night.”

“That bad?” Felicity asks sympathetically, she has the spoon pointed at Lucas but her head is tilted towards Oliver her eyes full of concern.

“Actually, no we talked and she invited us for dinner.”

“Oliver that’s great! I’m glad, Lucas deserves to get to know his only grandparent and you got a second chance with your mother. You shouldn’t waste it.”

“You are also invited. You’re important to Lucas and to me and I’d like you to get to know my mother and sister as well.”

Felicity looks like a deer caught in the headlights, Lucas’s spoon slipping from her fingers and clatters to the table of his high chair and the baby looks at her with wide eyes before he raises his hand and slaps the table hard the bowl with eggs go clattering to the floor.

Lucas then burst into tears, Felicity still frozen in surprise at his words, maybe he should have eased her into that invitation.

  
  



	7. Chapter 7

“Stupid man,” Felicity grumbles to herself as she paces in front of her bed. Lucas, who has been exploring Felicity’s bedroom to his heart’s content, is holding onto her bed as he bounces excitedly on his tip toes. 

“Oh Felicity, it’s no big deal. It’s just my Mom  _ and  _ sister,” Felicity mocks Oliver, her voice going deep. “It’s just your entire  _ family _ , Oliver. They aren’t going to want anything to do with the IT girl from Vegas. Who they probably think is trying to get to your family  _ jewels  _ through your kid.”

She pinks up at her words, Oliver isn’t even  _ here _ and she’s making crude comments about him and his anatomy. She’s not fit to have dinner with his mother and sister, she’s going to mess it up.

“Why did I agree to this, Lucas?” Felicity asks the baby rhetorically. 

“Ah!” Lucas replies, chubby little fingers curling into her bedding as he babbles at her excitedly.

“Yes, because I’m in love with your stupid father,” Felicity grumbles as she tosses another dresss into the no pile, “no need to call me out on it.”

Lucas releases his hold on the bed and drops to the floor crawling eagerly to her. Her heart melts at the toothy grin and abandons her search for the perfect dress instead opting to pick up the eager baby.

“I prefer to spend my time with you than picking out a silly dress so that your grandma and Aunty Thea like me,” Felicity declares. Her heart melts when Lucas leans forward and presses an open mouth wet kiss on her cheek. “You’re going to make it incredibly hard to say goodbye to you tonight.”

“Why would he be saying goodbye to you?” Oliver asks alarmed as he walks into her room, pulling his henley down over his head, and giving Felicity a brief glimpse of his abs. He pauses in the middle of the room, frowning when he sees the endless piles of dresses on the floor, something Felicity was  _ never _ intending for him to see. “What are you doing? I told you just wear something casual. Now, why are you saying goodbye to Lucas?’

Felicity startles at the question, not expecting him to fixate on that. He takes Lucas from her and then sits on her bed looking at her expectantly. What is her life, that Oliver Queen and his  _ son _ make themselves at home on her bed, like it’s an everyday occurance?  _ How _ is this her life now?

“Felicity?” Oliver prompts. He let’s Lucas roam around the bed, but his hand shoots out to grab the baby’s ankle before he goes to the edge, his eyes never leaving Felicity.

“I just assumed you would want to stay at home tonight, you and your Mom sorted out your stuff…”

A look of disappointment crosses Oliver’s face briefly, but he suddenly rises to his feet, scooping up Lucas in his arms. Felicity can practically hear the warning bells going off in her head.

“We could...I know you probably want your space back...we kind of took over your place the past few days…” Oliver stutters out his words, his hand rubbing his neck and she knows he’s uncomfortable, Lucas seems to sense that something’s off and the baby for once sitting quietly in his father’s arms just observing them.

“No!” Felicity practically shouts, she can see the way both Oliver and Lucas’s eyes widen in matching surprise.

“Oh!” Lucas parrots.

“I mean, it’s okay. I’m happy to have both of you...that is if you prefer to stay home I’d totally understand,” Felicity trips over her words, her cheeks flushed. She hates that this man  _ still _ makes her so nervous at times.

“No!” Lucas parrots again this time pronouncing the word perfectly. 

Oliver grins at Lucas proudly and then turns to smile at Felicity shyly, “I think Lucas just decided for both of us and if you’re okay with us being here...we’d gladly come back with you tonight.”

Felicity beams at Oliver words and nods, “then it’s settled.”

Oliver nods at her with an equally wide smile, neither of them saying anything for a moment until Lucas starts to fuss, “I’ll take him outside so that you can finish getting ready. Don’t overthink it, you’ll look beautiful in anything.”

He sends her a warm smile that makes her go weak at the knees just before he walks out with Lucas who turns around to wave at her before they disappear. 

Her heart now belongs to two Queen men.

She looks down at her insane pile of clothes and sighs deeply, “stupid man.”

* * *

Almost an hour later they are making their way up the cobblestone walkway towards the entrance of the Queen mansion, Felicity’s mini Cooper looking almost miniscule in comparison to the large house.

Both Felicity and Lucas are wearing matching shocked expressions as they take in their surroundings. Felicity is holding Lucas in her arms and she tilts her head all the way back to examine the mansion and Oliver watches on in amusement as Lucas follows suit tilting his head back as well but the baby is unable to stop and instead headbutts Felicity in the chin.

“Ow. Lucas you’ve got a hard head little man.” Felicity teases rubbing her chin. “Makes sense, given who your father is.”

“No!” Lucas chirps in reply, it’s his new favourite word.

“Heard that,” Oliver cajoles as he places a hand on her back and ushers her towards the front door, “and Lucas clearly disagrees with you.”

Felicity looks across at him and grins cheekily, “I was not whispering.”

Despite her teasing tone Oliver can see her nerves are getting the best of her by the way her bright yellow nails tap anxiously against Lucas’s diaper glad bottom, and by the way she continues to shift the baby from one arm to the next.

Lucas for the most part goes uncharacteristically quiet as he takes in his new surroundings clinging to Felicity a little bit more than normal.

“Ollie!”

Oliver grins at the familiar voice and turns in the foyer just in time to see his sister running down the stairs towards him. Roy, her boyfriend trailing behind her favouring his left side which only makes Oliver frown. He doesn’t understand why his sister insists on dating this delinquent.

“Hey Speedy…” Oliver opens his arms to greet his sister but she completely side steps him and makes a beeline towards Lucas.

Oliver huffs in exasperation he can see Felicity’s eyes twinkling with merth.“Oh my god. Look at his little face. He’s so chunky I want to eat him!” Thea gushes already stretching out her hands to Lucas and she laughs in delight when Lucas squeals out and then jumps into her arms willingly. 

“So I guess you’re still working on stranger danger?” Thea sends Oliver a teasing grin as she rubs Lucas back the baby patting her face in excitement. “Hi!”

“Lucas,” Felicity supplies, then bites her lip as she takes a step back. Oliver quickly moves next to her and smiles warmly at Felicity, “Thea, this is Felicity, a friend of mine. She’s been helping me out with Lucas the past few days.”

“We met before in Walter’s hospital room, right?” Thea asks sending Felicity a curious glance, but Lucas demands Thea’s attention and slaps her cheek.

“Lucas! No! Remember we have to be gentle,” Felicity coax out automatically, taking the baby’s hand and kissing it, “Gentle.”

Lucas little forehead wrinkles and he then moves and gently caresses Thea’s face just before he moves his head towards her to kiss her his forehead smacking against Thea’s nose.

“Ouch,” Thea says with a laugh rubbing Lucas’ forehead instead of his nose, “you got a hard head little dude.”

“Must run in the family,” a low voice mutters behind them and both Thea and Oliver turn to glare at Roy who takes a step back guiltily.

“That’s what I said!” Felicity laughs in delight that someone agree with her.

Oliver rolls his eyes about to move all of them to the dining room, when he pauses at the way Lucas is now staring at Roy. He tilts his head to the side and takes in Thea’s boyfriend with deep thought, after a few seconds he raises his hand stretching out to Roy, Lucas’ signal for a high five. 

“He wants you to give him a high five,” Oliver explains and he watches in amusement as the other man awkwardly taps Lucas on the hand.

“He’s not a bomb Roy,” Thea rolls her eyes and to Oliver’s horror as well as Roy’s, she deposits the baby into Roy’s unsuspecting arms.

All four adults freeze unsure what the baby will do but to their surprise, Lucas only babbles excitedly much like when he’s trying to tell Felicity and Oliver a story, the baby bounces in Roy’s arms and pats his face eagerly.

Oliver groans at the way his sister practically preens at the sight. His sister can babysit his son as much as she wants but she is  _ not _ having one of her own any time soon. 

“C’mon let’s go find Grandma!” Thea cheers to the baby who jumps into her arms and she and Roy walk off with Oliver’s son. 

Lucas does not even spare him or Felicity a glance and continues to babble to the pair as the move to the next room.

“Is this what it will be like when he starts pre-school?” Felicity asks clearly as put out as he is that Lucas doesn’t even look for them before he disappears 

“At least we have a few more years before that happens,” Oliver quips easily, still slightly bothered that his son did not call out to him, to either of them.

“Yea,” Felicity replies less than impressed as well.

They stand in the foyer, Lucas’ baby bag still strapped onto Oliver’s shoulder until they catch themselves and they both seem to realize the implications of their words at the very same time. Oliver clears his throat just as Felicity coughs, “at least you don’t have to worry too much about separation anxiety, he seems pretty fine now.”

There was an incident the previous day at the grocery store, Felicity had walked away to get a few things in the frozen section and Oliver had Lucas, who was sitting in the shopping cart. Oliver disappeared behind a tower of toilet paper to grab something and when Lucas had not seen him he burst into angry yells. The incident probably scared Oliver more than Lucas, the moment the baby saw him he was back to his happy giggling self, but Oliver never forgot the sound of Lucas screams.

“It’s a good thing, Oliver. That means when you’re ready for a babysitter and when the time comes for you to go back to work it won’t be hard on either of you,” Felicity rubs his back soothingly and Oliver finds himself leaning into her touch. “C’mon, let’s not test fate and leave your sister with a cranky baby.”

“He’s probably getting hungry anyway,” Oliver points out trying to hide his disappointment when Felicity steps away from him as they move to the next room.

He’s wondering just exactly where his sister went off too when Lucas makes his presence known, or more like Lucas makes sure they know he sees them.

“Ma!”

Felicity laughs and waves at the baby who is now in Oliver’s mother’s arms bouncing excitedly on seeing Felicity. His mother watches on, but not in her typical judgmental stare but looks at Lucas fondly and allows the baby to jump into Felicity’s waiting arms, “Good Evening Ms. Smoak, I’m glad to see you could join us for dinner.”

“Thank you for having me, Mrs. Queen,” Felicity replies politely, her fingers tugging on Lucas’ hand that finds its way into her mouth a few times. After a few tries though she realizes it’s a game to him and gums the baby’s fingers earning loud squeals in delight.

“Hang on, I thought you said baby mama ditched the kid?” Roy asks suddenly, grunting when Thea elbows him in the ribs.

Felicity cheeks pink up at his words, but to Oliver’s surprise his mother speaks up, her eyes narrowing at Roy slightly. “Yes, that is true, but Ms. Smoak...Felicity has been helping Oliver out these past few days. Lucas has grown fond of her, like father like son, I presume.”

Now it’s  _ Oliver’s _ turn to blush at his mother’s teasing words, Thea is grinning madly in response and Oliver knows the moment she corners him, he’s going to get the fifth degree.

“I guess she looks like the kid’s mother then?” Roy continues obliviously, “I mean he kinda looks like a mini blondie. Even gots the freckles.” 

He proves his point by tweaking Lucas’ nose earning laughter from the baby, when he looks at Felicity though, he pauses and takes a step back. The kid has absolutely no tact, but Oliver can’t help but picture a blonde hair blue eyed little girl with pigtails a splattering of freckles with Felicity’s spunk and sass. One that suspiciously looks just like  _ Lucas. _

Oh he’s going down a slippery slippery slope. First the dog, and now he’s imagining a whole other kid with Felicity.

“I for one don’t care who gave birth to him, anyone cruel enough to just  _ abandon _ their child with no care and in a  _ nightclub _ , no less. Does not deserve to be a mother or our time for that matter.” Thea remarks, clearly having heard the full story from their mother. Both his mother and sister scowling at her words, and Oliver can see Felicity is equally upset as well as the thought.

It warms Oliver’s heart to know that his son has so many people looking out for him, and so many people who already love him unconditionally.

“Yes, Thea is right, and Lucas is lucky to have you in his life, Felicity,” his mother says warmly, squeezing Felicity’s shoulders in comfort before she turns her focus back to Lucas. The baby eyes her warily, then back at Felicity before finally going to his mother’s arms.

It’s weird, the baby seems to have no qualms about going to Thea  _ and _ her tactless boyfriend. In fact Lucas seemed  _ excited _ to see both, but yet with his mother he is much more cautious.

So many things about his son just does not add up to Oliver, but he tries not to dwell on it, not too sure if he even wants to come to any conclusion about it in the first place. He’s pretty content with how things are right now, and does not want to rock that boat in anyway.

“So how old is he anyway?” Thea asks pulling Oliver from his thoughts.

His mother ushers the group into the dining room and Oliver is surprised to see a brand new highchair at the table along with a plastic bowl and he sees this bowl is actually suctioned to the table of the high chair which is brillant. He catches Felicity’s eye and sees that she has spotted the chair as well, he’s almost certain she is thinking the same thing as she lightly taps her head in thought.

“Given the math, he can’t be anymore than 8 months old,” his mother answers easily, “Although, he does look a little bigger for his size. Oliver told me was wearing the 12 months onesies.”

Oliver can tell that particular detail is bothering her as much as it’s been bothering him,  _ especially _ given the fact that he knows there was no one in his life the first few months he got back.

Another detail he refuses to dwell on, which he  _ knows _ when he finally tells Felicity she’s going to be upset that he kept that from her. Again, things are going great and he won’t rock that boat till he needs to.

“He’s just a little chunky for his size,” Felicity says defensively on seeing Thea’s skeptical looks.

“He looks exactly like Oliver did as a baby, chunky rolls and all,” His mother said fondly.

“Rolly polly Ollie!” Thea says excitedly, grinning at Oliver teasingly, “that’s what dad said he use to call you.”

Oliver cheeks redden at her words, his mother grins fondly no doubt remember all those years ago and Felicity is grinning at him, to his surprise she turns to his mother, “I’d  _ really _ like to see those pictures if you have them around.”

“Once dinner is finished I’ll bring out the albums for you,” his mother promises and Oliver groans, while he had hoped his mother and Thea would like Felicity, he’s not too sure if he’s ready for them to bond over his baby pictures of all things. However, he takes one look at Felicity’s delighted expression and he knows he does not have the heart to stop them.

* * *

Dinner goes much better than their lunch the previous week, his mother seems to be a totally different person, he’s not sure how long it will last, but he decides to take her actively trying in getting to know Lucas and Felicity as a positive thing.

“She’s good with him,” his mother’s voice startles him he looks to his right to see she’s watching Felicity who is now has Lucas standing in front of them Lucas’s little hands are clenched around her fingers and Thea is coaxing Lucas to come to her. There are dozens of baby albums surrounded them that the two women had devoured earlier.

“Probably better than I am,” Oliver quips with a fond smile on his lips.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” his mother remarks warmly, “you’re great with him, Oliver. I’m sorry I doubted you and your commitment to your son.”

Oliver nods grateful that she is no longer humouring him or thinking this is a “phase” he is going through and acknowledges the fact that this is his life now. He grins as he watches Lucas climb up Felicity and presses a big wet open mouth kiss against her lip and both Felicity and Thea break out into laughter.

“Lucas loves her already,” his mother observes, her own smile tugging on her lips.

“He does,” Oliver nods in agreement his heart warming at the pair, making a mental note to ask Thea for the endless picture she’s currently taking on her phone. At first Felicity was a little hesitant, but then she got into it posing for endless amount of pictures with Lucas and Thea as well as taking some of his sister with Lucas as well.

“He’s not the only one,” his mother points out easily.

This time he pulls his gaze away from Felicity and his son to look at his mother who is smiling knowingly at him, “Mom…”

“All I’m going to say on the matter, is I think Lucas isn’t the only one that would benefit with Ms. Smoak in his life.” She does not wait for him to respond but instead makes her way back to his family clapping along with Lucas who grins widely at her return.

He sees Thea watching them curiously, the moment their eyes meet his sister rises to her feet and thunder claps startling her but before she can catch her barings and make her way towards him, Oliver takes a step forward and claps suddenly, “We should get going before this storm gets worse.” 

Felicity rises to her feet reaching out for Lucas but frowns when Moira does not relinquish her hold on his son. “Oliver, you can’t possibly leave in this storm. It’s not safe out there.”

As soon as his mother says that lightning lights up the entire solarium and sure enough thunder claps loudly in return. Lucas burst into tears at the sound immediately reaching for Felicity, and this time his mother quickly passes the baby to Felicity.

Felicity immediately comforts Lucas, rubbing his back and kissing his head, she looks across at Oliver, “I don’t think my Mini can handle this storm anyway.”

“Great! We can show Lucas his room!” Thea says excitedly, already taking Felicity by the hand and pulling her towards the foyer.

“Room?” Oliver asks looking at his mother in confusion.

“Well I can’t very well not have somewhere for my only grandson to sleep.” his mother says easily, “you did not think I pulled that high chair from Thea’s baby stuff did you?”

Oliver only stutters as he follows his mother, sister and Felicity up the stairs, Felicity sends him an amused grin but stops short when she reaches the second floor. 

“It’s a little intimidating, but don’t worry, you'll be able to find you way around here in no time,” Thea says warmly pulling Felicity along the corridor, when she looks back Oliver though his sister only grins mischievously in return and Oliver makes a mental note to  _ not _ leave Felicity alone with his sister.

“That’s Ollie’s room,” Thea says conversationally to Felicity as the by past Oliver’s room the door slightly ajar, “But I’m sure you knew that already.”

“Thea!” Oliver groans out in exasperation, he reaches out for Felicity when she almost trips over her own feet at Thea’s words, Lucas firmly in her arms.

“Thea, leave them alone,” his mother admonishes halfheartedly and Oliver just  _ knows _ the two women have bonded over the discussion of exactly who Felicity is to him.

His sister is prevented from commenting when they walk into the room directly opposite Oliver’s room and Felicity loud gasps captures everyone’s attention. 

It’s not just a room, it's a  _ nursery _ perfect for a baby almost toddler. His mother decorated every aspect of the nursery, complete with a deep mahogany crib, and matching rocking chair with a diaper changing table. There are toys neatly lining one wall, the seat below the bay window is filled with various stuffed animals. The entire rooms is an army green, and Felicity looks across at Oliver with a single raised eyebrow, neither of them missing the significance of the colour.

“Now, I don’t want you to think I did all this to try and get you to stay in the mansion,” Moira speaks and Oliver is surprised to hear slight nervous tilt in her voice. “But I do want you to feel comfortable staying here whenever you want and of course I can babysit Lucas whenever you want the night off. You’re welcome here anytime you want.”

His mother is  _ nervous _ , which is something Oliver has rarely seen. Thea though smiles brightly and throws an arm casually around their mother’s shoulder, Oliver grateful that their strained relationship seems to be on the mend thanks to his son. “Mom was nervous that if she decked out the entire nursery that you would think she was being too pushy. Can you imagine that Ollie? Mom,  _ pushy _ ? I could  _ never _ imagine that.”

Oliver laughs as his mother blushes slightly at his sister’s words, “Mom, this is great, and look Lucas loves it already.”

They all turn to Lucas who has since settled down is already exploring his new bedroom, Felicity crouching next to him, taking every toy he brings to her.

“Good.” His mother says with a sigh of relief, a smile blossoming when Lucas crawls over to her dragging yet another stuffed animal and handing it to her.

“If we leave him, he’s going to remove every single one of those toys from the windowsill.” Felicity remarks watching in amusement as Lucas wrestles with a stuffed animal twice his size and when he finally pulls it off the seat both he and the stuffed animal go tumbling to the floor. Instead of getting back up like he normally would Lucas breaks out into tears.

“He’s tired,” Oliver summarizes, moving to his son immediately and picking him off the floor, “I know buddy, it’s way past your bedtime. We’ll get you some milk, okay?” 

“Actually, Ollie why don’t I take Lucas and get his bottle ready and you and Felicity settle in for the night?” Thea asks already taking Lucas from Oliver, her brown eyes twinkling with mischief. 

“Do you even know how to make his bottle?” Oliver counters, slightly annoyed his son is already snuggled against Thea, his little head buried in her neck. He can see Felicity is also torn at the turn of events, for the past few days they have set up a schedule and have been putting Lucas to bed together.

“I’ll show her, we’ll get him dressed for bed as well,” his mother actually chimes in taking the baby bag from Felicity. “If Thea is going to babysit in the future, she’s going to need to know how to do the basics after all.”

“Mom’s right.” Thea agrees as she moves to the chest of drawers and goes though neatly piled clothes. She pulls out a onesie filled with sleeping puppies and grins at Oliver, “I chose this one.”

“Of course,” Oliver remarks, watching as his mother slips out of the room and Thea moves to the changing table, Felicity hovering behind his sister.

“Stop hovering you two, and go get ready for bed.” Thea teases.

Felicity coughs at her words, “You know, I can just take the couch, and once the rain stops…”

“Felicity don’t be a crazy person, you don’t know how late this storm will last. You can’t go out in this weather,” Thea protests immediately as she places Lucas on the changing table, “ Roy said as soon as he got to the club there was a downpour and it has not stopped since. I told him to just close up the club, it doesn’t make sense no one in their right mind will go out in this weather.

“You’re not driving in this weather, least of all your toy car,” Oliver says firmly, leaving no room for argument but he knows Felicity well enough that she won’t go down without some kind of fight.

“My  _ toy _ car, has saved  _ lives _ …”Felicity scowls, but then catches herself, and smiles at Thea sheepishly, “You know being able to park anywhere downtown, I can get lunch and other things easily. Saved your ass in meetings countless times.”

“Ollie, you really have her getting your lunch? I know she’s your assistant, but come on,” Thea scowls at Oliver, however she turns her focus to Lucas and gasps in surprise when Lucas starts rolling to one side.

“You can’t take your eyes off of him for a second,” Felicity says already holding Lucas in place, she looks down at the cranky baby and smiles despite his tears, “I know, but you are gonna want to put on these cute pajamas your Auntie Thea got you. It’s gonna keep your little tushie all warm and toasty. For the record, I only got Oliver lunch that _one_ time. Your brother is a great boss.”

“I bet,” Thea murmurs just as she begins to unfasten Lucas’ diaper.

Oliver scowls at his sister’s insinuation, even more so at Felicity’s red cheeks, he wished his sister would stop  _ scaring _ Felicity. He takes a step on the opposite side of his sister and hands her the clean diaper, “You need to cover him, otherwise he’ll pee all over you.”

Thea wrinkles her nose at that revelation, making sure to cover Lucas completely, Oliver only smirks at her in response, “I only told you that because I do want you to babysit in the future and I don’t want you to be scarred your first time changing him.”

“Cute,” Thea remarks sticking her tongue out at Oliver, before she turns her focus back to Lucas, “Why don’t you go and show Felicity to your room...I mean  _ a room _ .”

“Cute,” Oliver replies dryly, gently shoving his sister before he ushers Felicity out of the room. Felicity looks back longing at Lucas who is now babbling to Thea in excitement not even aware that they have left

“Sorry, about her.” Oliver remarks softly, his hand automatically going to Felicity’s back as he ushers her out of the room.

“It’s okay. I expected her to hate me on the spot, you know, strange woman taking care of her nephew and all.” Felicity replies her fingers moving to the single ring on her index finger as she spins it around nervously.

She looks down the corridor, her eyes casting a glance at Oliver’s open bedroom door and then to Lucas’ bedroom on the opposite side of the hallway. He takes her hand pulling her focus back to him, her eyes widen slightly. She looks at their clasp hands then back at him curiously 

“Hey, you are not a stranger. You’re...you’re  _ Felicity _ ,” he says her name almost like a prayer and hopes he is able to convey all that she means to him. He can see the way her eyes soften at his words and he only hopes she understands, “c’mon I’ll show you to the room next to Lucas.”

When they enter the room Felicity’s eyes widen in surprise, he forgets sometimes that most people aren’t used to the kind of lifestyle his family lives. Sometimes he forgets himself. 

“The bathroom is on the left, there should be a new toothbrush and toothpaste in there. If there isn’t let me know, I’ll bring something for you to sleep in?” He asks slightly uncertain his eyes casting over her light purple dress she wore for dinner.

“Thank you. If Lucas wakes up, you’ll let me know?” Felicity says shyly as she releases her hold on his hand to walk further in the room. When he hesitates she narrows her eyes at him, “Oliver, you don’t have to do this alone. You can wake me if Lucas gets up and needs me, okay?”

“Okay.”

* * *

Oliver wakes to the sound of familiar crying, but they almost sound muffled. He turns his head in the direction Lucas playpen is usually situated but frowns when he sees the pixelated image of the baby monitor on his nightstand staring back at him.

He rubs his eyes slowly taking in his surrounds, the previous night slowly coming back to him. He looks at the small screen on the baby monitor to see Lucas sitting in his new crib crying out tearfully to Felicity. 

He quickly makes his way out of his room and towards the nursery. “Hey buddy,”

Lucas hiccups his blue eyes round and full of tears when he sees Oliver, “Ma!”

“I know you woke up in a new place and didn’t see either of us,” Oliver coos reaching for Lucas, but his son only cries out for Felicity louder whimpering against Oliver’s chest.

“Ma is sleeping,” Oliver explains. He grabs Lucas blanket and the stuffed husky he’s being inseparable from since Felicity gave him and makes his way back to his room.

“Ma!” Lucas whines his little eyes straining all over the foreign room for Felicity.

Oliver pauses in front of Felicity’s door contemplating if he should wake her when to his surprise and Lucas’ delight the large wooden door creaks open and a sleep deprived rumpled Felicity comes tiptoeing out. She’s wearing one of Oliver’s T-shirts that’s practically dwarfing her frame falling about mid thigh and Oliver is unsure if she’s wearing the boxers he lent her, but his mind  _ definitely _ went in that direction. 

“Lucas?” She rasps our squinting at their forms, her glasses hanging low on her nose. She pushes it up and smiles sleepily at the baby who is already eagerly stretching out to her.

“Ma!”

She takes him with ease and peppers soft kisses on his head, “Why are you up so late?”

“I think the new room along with neither of us being there scared him,” Oliver whispers to her rubbing Lucas’ back in comfort. The baby’s cries just soft whimpers now as he buries his head into Felicity’s chest.

“I can put him back to sleep if you want,” Felicity offers stifling a yawn as she does.

“I was actually just going to let him sleep with me,” Oliver says sheepishly.

Lucas enjoys falling asleep on Oliver’s bare chest and Oliver himself enjoys that quiet time with his son too, he imagines that it would have been something he would have done when Lucas was a newborn.

“Buddy, time to let Felicity go back to bed,” Oliver calls out softly going to take Lucas from Felicity but the baby is having none of that and clings to Felicity tighter breaking out in loud protest.

“I’ll come and lie with you both, till he falls asleep I mean,” Felicity offers, her cheeks pink, “if that’s okay with you.”

“Yea, it’s totally fine,” Oliver replies quickly, and he wants to hit himself in the head for sound so awkward around her. 

They make their way into the room and Felicity quickly climbs onto his bed Lucas still in her arms. She tries to put Lucas in the center of the bed like the way they did the first night they had Lucas, but the baby refuses to relinquish is hold on her- Oliver’s- T-shirt burying his head further into her chest. 

Sometimes he still seems to want to nurse but for the most part he seems to realize that Felicity can’t give him that. He does like to fall asleep on her chest though and Oliver suspect tonight is going to be one of those nights.

Felicity rubs his back and then lies against the pillow Lucas resting his head on her chest his little feet dangling off the sides of her stomach as he curls his fist around her T-shirt.

"Here,” Oliver whispers softly as he props a pillow behind her so she’s more comfortable. 

He’s not gonna lie the image of his son sleeping on Felicity’s chest is one of his favourites and so many times he’s itching to take a picture so that he can always keep the image with him. 

He moves forward and gently takes Felicity glasses off putting it on his bedside for her.

“Thank you,” Felicity whispers, Lucas already settling down his little mouth slightly parted as dribble makes his way down onto the T-shirt. It’s the most adorable thing Oliver has ever seen.

He gets comfortable on his side of the bed, his eyes still trained on them, he can see Felicity’s eyes fluttering closed but he refuses to close his own eyes.

“Oliver, go to sleep. We aren’t going anywhere.” 

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

Oliver wakes up to the smell of coconuts, his entire body engulfed with warmth. He tenses at the unfamiliar weight on his body, something tickling his nose. He’s just about to fling the weight off his body when he opens his eyes and is greeted by a mass of familiar blonde hair.

_ Felicity _ .

Oliver tenses, he can feel every inch of Felicity touching every inch of his body. She’s curled around his torso, her head resting on his chest, her hot breath tickling one of his scars. One leg rests against his while the other is curled over him, her knee pressing lightly against his morning wood.

He is in  _ so _ much trouble.

Felicity scuffles slightly and then burrows her face into Oliver’s chest. Her arm that’s wound around his torso tightens. That’s when Oliver realizes he has one hand on her ass, and as he suspected the previous night she is  _ not  _ wearing his boxers, instead he is only touch bare  _ skin _ . 

_ Felicity’s _ bare skin. 

_ Holy fuck _ .

Felicity hums softly, her lips pressing against his heated skin but then her entire body tenses and Oliver knows she’s awake.

He does not move his hand off her ass, instead he remains perfectly still waiting for  _ her _ to untangle herself from him.

She releases a soft gasp in surprise no doubt when she finally figures out their current predicament. But, to  _ his _ surprise Felicity does not untangle herself, instead her entire body relaxes and she snuggles deeper into him, her breath evening out. He can feel the cold metal of her earring pressed against his chest. He can feel the barest hint of her finger tips slowly tracing the corners of his bratva tattoo. Her breath tickles his bare skin, but she does not move otherwise.

He wonders if she has fallen asleep again but to his surprise, she gently rolls her hips and pushes back against his hand. His fingers curl automatically against the curve of her ass, his thumb slipping under the soft cotton fabric of her panties. 

Felicity gasps her head flying back, and the only reason it does not collide with his chin is because they are completely supine on the bed. When their eyes meet, she gasps softly in surprise, Oliver can feel her about to pull away, but he only curls his hand onto her ass keeping her flush against him. 

“Oliver,” her breathy voice going straight to Oliver’s groin. 

He should pull away from her, put some distance between them, but his fingers seem to have a mind of their own and he’s already massaging her ass with his fingertips. 

She released a little breathy moan her hips rocking gently against his thigh and suddenly her lips are on his. He pulls her closer to him, deepening the kiss as his other hand cups her cheek. He moans when her teeth sink into his bottom lip, her tongue then running along his swollen skin.

He should have known she would be a biter.

He moans out her name against his lips. His fingers running through her tangled curls tugging on it lightly. Felicity rocks her hips against his thigh her knee pressing gently against his hardening cock. 

His fingers slip under the soft cotton material of her panties so that his entire hand is encased under it. He slides his finger between the curve of her ass both of them moaning softly against each other’s lips. 

He cups the back of her head gently and slowly rolls them over so that he is now hovering over her flushed body. Her cheeks are red, her eyes dilated as she stares up at him, her fingers scratching his beard just before she pulls him down for another kiss. 

He braces his hands on either side of her face, trying not to put his full body weight on her, but Felicity has other ideas. Her leg hooks around his and she pulls his body flush against hers. He pulls back slightly, their eyes meeting as they try to catch their breaths. She looks up at him with dilated eyes, her teeth sinking into her swollen lower lip. He quirks at eyebrow down at her, surprised as the way her hips are still rocking against his. Felicity smiles shyly in return but she hooks her hands around his neck and pulls him back down for a kiss, which he happily obliges.

When she pulls back this time he can’t help but protest weakly, she giggles against his skin presses soft kisses along his jaw until she starts to lightly suck on his neck. 

He wants to run his hands along her body, but he is still bracing himself on one hand, he’s just about to flip them over when his hand collides with a familiar soft plush stuffed animal. 

_ Lucas _

He freezes immediately, Felicity picks up on his shift in mood and pulls back looking at him in concern. Her leg falling from his torso. He can see her pulling back not just physically but emotionally from him, but he stops her cupping her face.

“Lucas.”

Felicity immediately looks across at the empty bed and then at Oliver in alarm. She places her hands on his chest to push him off her but then the bedroom door flies open with a loud thud. 

“Oh! Children in the room!” His sister screeches scandalized and Lucas loud laughter echoes in the room. She looks at the baby and grins knowingly, “told you little man, mom and dad were  _ busy _ .”

Felicity squeaks out at his sister’s words hiding behind her hand, avoiding eye contact with him. 

“Mama!” Lucas cheers none the wiser.

This time Felicity pushes at Oliver’s chest insistently and he is reminded exactly where his body is nestled. He rolls over pulling the blanket snuggly across both their torsos and he glares across the room at his sister. 

Thea only grins mischievously in return just as she tosses Lucas onto the bed, the baby cheering excitedly and quickly making his way towards a red face Felicity.

“I guess we should have knocked,” Thea remarks without a hint of remorse. 

Oliver growls in response, but his features softening instantaneously when Lucas throws himself onto him. He tries to catch Felicity’s eyes but she is pointedly not looking at him but instead fixated on fixing the blankets over her bare legs. 

“What you should have done is told one of us you were taking Lucas. We woke up and couldn’t find him Thea,” Oliver snaps and he knows he’s taking out his frustration on his sister, but his point still stands.

“You two did not seem too concerned.” Felicity cheeks go bright pink at her words and Oliver can already tell she’s ready to run at any given notice and he  _ can’t  _ have that. “ _ Thea _ .”

“Alright, I woke up and saw he was not in his room and when I came to check on you he was already awake. I figured I’d let the two of you sleep longer, so I got him breakfast.”

He’s about to protest again, when he feels a familiar hand on his thigh stopping him. He meets Felicity’s eyes and sighs with a nod, pointedly aware of his sister’s gaze on them.

“Thank you for getting breakfast for Lucas,” Felicity tells Thea kindly. She laughs when Lucas throws himself onto her and starts climbing her like a monkey, some of the tension leaving her body.

“Actually…”

“Why aren’t you two dressed? Thea I told you to tell them to get ready Fernando is going to be here in 15 minutes!” His mother comes bustling into the bedroom, scooping up Lucas who seems as confused as they are at her appearance.

His mother, much like Thea is completely unbothered by the fact that they are both lying in bed and Oliver hates the way his chest warms at the fact that they are  _ not _ bothered by this and how  _ right  _ it feels.

“Fernando?” Felicity questions, her can hear the anxious tilt in her voice and he knows she’s starting to get overwhelmed by the way her hands keep twisting the blanket.

“You hired a  _ photographer? _ ” Oliver asks incredulously all too familiar with the family photographer who used to come by twice a year to take portraits of he and Thea.

“I have no photos of my grandson. Of course I hired a photographer,” his mother tuts incredulous that Oliver would even question her. She scoops up Lucas who smiles at her widely and Oliver can’t help but grin at the way his mother melts at that one smile. His son has every single woman in his life wrapped around his tiny little finger already.

“Thea and I will get Lucas in one of the outfits I picked out for him. You two get dressed and meet us in the solarium in 15 minutes.” His mother sends him a pointed look as though  _ he _ would be the reason to keep them back.

“Oh no. I should get going. I’m sure you guys have a lot of family photos to take and things to do… cameras and stuff...” despite Felicity’s nervous babble she does not move from Oliver’s bed and Oliver suspects her lack of pants has everything to do with it.

He’s about to protest but to his surprise both his mother and sister chime in together 

“Nonsense, you need to take pictures with Oliver and Lucas.” 

“Yea Felicity, you gotta see the outfits Mom and I bought for Lucas they are adorable.”

Once his mother announced their plans for the day he was already hoping he could convince Felicity to take a few pictures with Lucas so he can finally have a proper picture of the two. He did not realize his mother was already two steps ahead of him, for once her forceful nature is going to benefit him. 

He can see Felicity’s resolve already breaking her eyes on Lucas who is now waving at her cheekily, his sister knew exactly what would’ve get Felicity to cave.

“Alright, but I don’t need to be in your family pictures.”

“Nonsense, dear. You’re important to Oliver and Lucas. We need to commemorate these moments. Trust me these years go faster than you would like and you’re gonna wanna be able to look back at these moments when he’s off on his first day of kindergarten.” His mother comments thoughtfully. The fact that she is not only implying that Felicity will be in Oliver’s life,  _ their lives _ , years from now, but is also so accepting of it makes Oliver forget everything she said the first time she met Lucas. His mother finally gets it, she gets what these two mean to him. 

“Now, 15 minutes you two.” His mother repeats firmly, before she walks out of the room as quickly as she came. Thea is hot on her heels making monkey faces at Lucas behind his mother’s back. Lucas giggles echoes in the hallways as the trio disappear.

“And then there were two,” Felicity jokes uncomfortably.

Warning bells start going off in Oliver head by the way she scrambles off the bed, tugging on his t-shirt and stretching it as far as the hem would allow.

“ _ Felicity… _ ”

“Oliver, it’s fine. You don’t have to say anything. Let’s just forget it ever...”

He does not let her finish her words, instead he jumps across the bed capturing her hand before she can walk away. He tugs her gently so that she is standing between his legs, their bare knees brushing. She looks at him with vulnerability and uncertainty and he hates that she has reason to doubt him.

“No! I don’t want to forget about it,” Oliver insists taking her hand in his. She doesn’t pull away but she still looks at him reluctantly. “I  _ can’t  _ forget about it.”

“Oliver, you’ve been through a lot in the past few weeks. You should not be taking on anymore,” Felicity protests.

“Felicity, you’d not just some task to cross off my list!” Oliver grumbles with annoyance hating that she would even reduce this thing between them into something so insignificant.

“That’s not what I meant,” she apologizes her features softening, “I just think your life has changed significantly, now that you’re a father maybe it’s best to not add more significant changes to your life?” 

Oliver pauses at the implications of her words, she knows that if something were to happen between them it’s  _ not _ that either of them would take  _ lightly _ . This would be it for them. Hope blossoms in his chest, he needs her to understand how much he wants this, wants  _ her _ .

“Felicity…”

“Ollie! What are the two of you doing? Actually don’t answer that,” Thea comes storming into the room this time without Lucas or their mother. She slaps Oliver’s hand away from Felicity, he did not even realizes he was holding her waist or how close they had gotten. “Felicity, I have some outfits for you to try on.”

Before he can protest though Thea is pulling Felicity out of the room yelling after him, “get dressed Ollie, something light blue or yellow. Nothing else Ollie!”

Felicity looks at him helplessly just before she and Thea disappear.

This is  _ not _ how he was expecting his day to go when he woke up this morning.

* * *

“Mama!” Lucas whines from his spot on the floor little fingers reaching for her eagerly, fat tears rubbing down his cheeks. He’s dressed in a light blue sailor’s outfit, complete with a little hat. Some of the outfits Oliver’s mother and Thea have gotten are utterly ridiculous, although look adorable on the baby. 

They have been trying for the past 10 minutes to get Lucas to sit still to take his picture but he is having none of it and only wants Felicity. He’s crawled towards her off and on each time, so Fernando suggested that she move to the next room. Which resulted in their current predicament where Lucas is crying his eyes out and it breaks Felicity’s heart.

She completely ignores the way Moira and Thea try and coax smiles from the baby and Oliver’s hesitant expression and makes a beeline for Lucas. Lucas on seeing her immediately reaches out for her softly whining out her name.

“Okay, Mom how about we do some shots with the both of you and hopefully Lucas will warm up to the idea so we can get those amazing portrait shots for Grandma?” Fernando’s accent is thick as he speaks from behind his camera already taking pictures the entire time Felicity comforts Lucas.

The moniker makes her pause, it’s one thing to hear Lucas say it, something at this point she can’t imagine ever changing, but when someone refers her as Lucas’ mother, it makes her stomach turn. Not in an uncomfortable way, but in the way that she gets when she solves a particularly hard code, or when Oliver referred to her as ‘his girl’.

She loves it, but it absolutely  _ terrifies  _ her.

She looks down at the chubby little spotty cheeks and red eyes and cant help but pout hating this look on Lucas’ face. She presses soft kisses to his cheek as she wipes away his tears, “you’re okay I got you. You wanna smile for Grandma?”

Moira who is standing to the side waves one of the many stuffed animals she got for Lucas. Thea at her side looks equally concern, but the baby is having none of that and turns back to Felicity with a frown. His little lip trembling as he buries his face into the crook of her neck.

“Hey buddy,” Oliver soft voices calls out to Lucas, his hand resting on Felicity’s shoulder as he peers down at his son. Lucas turns his head to look shyly at Oliver, his cheek pressing onto Felicity’s chest. “Do you want to take pictures with us?”

Lucas looks back and forth between Oliver and Felicity then at Fernando with narrow thoughtful eyes. Felicity can hear the clicking of the camera as Fernando moves around them still taking pictures but keeping his distance.

“Hey Lucas!” Thea calls out suddenly waving at the baby excitedly, and Lucas perks up at her voice, and looks across at her curiously. On seeing that she has his attention she pulls open a small bottle and suddenly bubbles begin to fill the room. Lucas blue eyes widen in surprise and he begins to bounce in Felicity’s arms babbling eagerly at Thea. 

Thea seems to find the key to distracting the baby. As the bubbles float over to them, Lucas’ tiny hand reaches out to touch them, he squeaks out in delighty when he pops one, but frowns when a bubble lands on his face. Felicity holds her breath wondering if he will cry, but he is only distracted by another bubble that floats by. 

The baby is completely unaware of the photographer’s camera that’s going off around them. Instead he is focused on the bubbles and Thea demanding she send him more, when they are too far for him to touch.

Lucas’ attachment to his aunt was instantaneous much like when he first met Felicity and Oliver. It’s particularly weird given the fact that he’s still warming up to Moira. Although, if Felicity was being honest with herself she wouldn't blame Lucas for being wary of Moira. She is still waiting for the older woman to change her mind and decide that Felicity should not be in Lucas or Oliver’s lives and demand Felicity leave this impromptu photoshoot immediately.

“Smile for the camera Lucas!” Thea cajoles when she sees that she has Lucas’ full attention. “Say cheese!”

“Eee!” Lucas parrots clapping as he stares directly at the camera and gives it a wide dimple smile.

“See all the kids know the camera these days,” Fernando says with delight, “Mom and Dad let’s face the camera and get some family shots before we try with just Lucas, again.”

There it is again. 

Felicity freezes at his words and she’s just about to protest when she feels Oliver’s arm around her shoulder, she looks up at him and her breath catches at the way he looks at her.

Oliver takes a step towards her and gently cups her cheek, Felicity barely has time to react before Lucas, who is now in Oliver’s arms, reaches up at pats her cheeks as well. The camera’s shutters never once stopping.

“That’s perfect! Now let’s get some shots of everyone looking at the camera.”

This is how she ends up taking family pictures with Oliver and his son. 

* * *

“Absolutely not,” Oliver protests, but Felicity can’t help but laugh at Thea’s crestfallen expression. His sister is holding a  _ lion _ costume in her hand reaching for Lucas, who is currently munching on some apple pieces, none the wiser, that his aunt wants to parade him in yet another outfit.

“C’mon Ollie, it’s cute! King of the Jungle? Lucas  _ Queen _ . It’s a play on words, don’t be a grump.” Thea protests. To Felicity’s surprise though, Thea turns to  _ her, _ looking at Felicity expectantly for her thoughts.

“Oh no, that’s Oliver’s decision to make,” Felicity says immediately.

They have changed Lucas’ outfits twice already and the baby was getting restless until Felicity made him a small snack. The point is though that one too many times people would turn to her about making decisions about Lucas, and she’s beginning to get overwhelmed at the fact that they are automatically going to her instead of Oliver. 

She is not the parent here.

Oliver though seems put out that she has pushed the decisions on him each time, and she hates how disappointed he looks every time she steers the choices back to him.

“Those cheeks would look cute with whiskers,” Felicity offers, and Thea’s eyes widen in realization. 

She turns to Oliver with pleading eyes, “ _ Ollie _ .”

“If you get him to sit long enough, go for it,” Oliver finally relents at which Thea claps excitedly. 

He turns to Felicity questioningly, and she knows he wants to use the small distraction to talk, but Felicity is just not ready to have that conversation yet. She gets to her feet and looks at Thea’s excited face, “I have some costume makeup, in my handbag that will wash off easily and harmless for him.”

“You have costume makeup, in your  _ handbag?  _ Do I want to know what kind of things you and Ollie get up to?” Thea asks her nose wrinkles, “ Actually don’t answer that.”

“It was from Halloween last year,” Felicity explains moving to grab her handbag that is in the other room, Thea hot on her heels, “I typically celebrate halloween, except this year I was out of the country.”

She remembers belatedly they were in Russia that time saving Diggle’s ex wife among  _ other _ things Felicity wishes she could forget.

“Really? Ollie has always hated halloween. I just can’t picture him wearing a mask, much less makeup with some crazy suit.” Thea says thoughtfully.

“You’d be surprised.” Felicity remarks, without thinking until Thea gags.

“Felicity, I do  _ not _ need to know what you and my brother get up to. I saw more than I wanted to this morning.”

“No! I didn’t mean...we aren’t...Thea you have the wrong idea!” Felicity stutters out her protest as she follows Thea back into the solarium. 

She is not even sure what she and Oliver are, there is no way she can begin to explain it to Oliver’s sister of all people.

“Sure.” Thea says with a laugh and a twinkle in her eye, “Let’s see if we can get your squirming... boy into this outfit, yea?”

Thea’s cheeks pinks up at her misstep, it’s not the first time it’s happened for the morning, and each time someone refers to her as such Felicity’s chest tightens yet again.Within the first few sessions everyone is now calling her ‘Mom or Mommy’ even Oliver is doing it and it’s becoming overwhelming to say the least. 

“Let’s just hope we don’t have a cranky lion on our hands,” Felicity remarks, her voice tight as she makes her way to Lucas who smiles excitedly on seeing her.

* * *

Lucas makes an  _ adorable _ lion, for the most part the baby adores the little costume, even giggling on seeing his reflection. When they prompt him to growl, he does it with gusto, even more so when he has everyone laughing in response.

Things go well until Moira requests that they put him in the little suit she bought him, complete with a clip on bow tie and suspenders. Felicity has to admit that the little outfit just screams mini Oliver, so much so she’s itching to hack into the photographer’s database and get a copy of  _ all _ the pictures today.

Except, Lucas reaches his breaking point, he refuses to put on the shirt and sits on the couch in only the baby slacks and diaper, his cheeks red and he breaks out into tears when someone shakes a stuffed animal in front of his face it only makes him cry louder.

Felicity can’t blame him, she herself has been beginning to feel overwhelmed with just  _ everything _ that’s happened in the last 12 hours, and she uses Lucas’ crankiness as the perfect opportunity to just put a stop to  _ all of it. _

Selfishly, it’s more for her than the baby.

“Alright, I think we’re done for the day,” Felicity declares taking a step towards Lucas who is already reaching out for her. She turns to Moira apologetically, but Oliver rises from his seat behind the laptop to make his way over to them, beating her to the punch, “Mom, Lucas is getting restless. I think you have enough shots.”

Moria surprises them both when she signals to Fernado to end things and moves across the room to Lucas. She rubs his back but Lucas continues to bury his head in Felicity's neck refusing to look at anyone. “You did good, baby boy. Thank you for indulging your Grandma. You did far better than your Daddy and Aunt Thea ever did.”

She places a kiss on Lucas’ dirty blond hair and then looks at Felicity warmly, “I’ll make sure to email you the photos once Fernando is finished with them.”

“Thank you,” Felicity replies politely, but then Lucas starts to cry in her arms whining loudly. 

She feels a familiar hand on her back and see Oliver still standing at her side, “I’ll get his bottle ready, you wanna take him upstairs?”

This is her life now, a crying baby, a guy who would do just about anything for her, but she’s not sure if he can give her everything she wants. Pushy in laws she didn’t ask for. It’s a lot, it’s too much all at one time and she does not think she can do it.

This can’t be her life.

Felicity shakes her head, Oliver soft concerns muffled over the sound of her jumbled thoughts. She deposits a crying Lucas into Oliver’s surprised arms and shakes her head repeatedly from side to side. “I have to go.”

“Felicity?” Oliver calls out hoarsely, coming to the sickening conclusion.

“I’m sorry,” she shakes her head yet again and quickly spins on her heels ignoring Lucas cries and Oliver calling after her.   
  



	9. Chapter 9

Oliver slams his knuckles into the punching bag with repeated force, ignoring the way his muscles ache in protest. He looks a few feet in front of him to see Lucas standing in his playpen staring at Oliver curiously. Lucas has his pacifier in his mouth, his little hands gripping the edge of the playpen and his eyes never waver from Oliver. It’s been less than 5 hours since Felicity walked out of the mansion and suffice to say neither of them are dealing with her absence well.

“I should have known this is where you would have been hiding,” Diggle calls out to Oliver unimpressed.

Oliver only grunts and returns to punching the bag in front of him. He does not need or want Diggle to tell him that he messed up. He figured that out for himself, the moment he kissed Felicity.

“Hey kid. Did you tell your dad he’s being an idiot again?” Diggle addresses Lucas casually. Oliver scowls as Lucas babbles back, the pacifier fall into the playpen, in response almost as though he understands what Diggle is saying.

“Hi!”

“I hear you little man. If he would just put on his big boy pants and tell Felicity how he felt. He would not be wallowing in self pity.”

“Ma!” Lucas says eagerly, and Oliver does not need to look to know that his son is now looking around the room for her. He’s purposely not brought her up in conversation with the baby, afraid of this exact response.

Also Oliver’s heart is still bruised from her walking out on them.

“Yea, your dad loves your Ma, but he refuses to tell her that,” Diggle tells the baby conversationally.

“It’s not that simple, John.” Oliver grumbles as he grabs his towel. He makes his way back to the centre of the foundry and he frowns in displeasure. He does  _ not _ want to have this conversation but he suspects it will happen whether he likes it or not. “What are you even doing here? I thought you were spending the weekend with Lyla.”

“Yes, but then I got a text from Felicity asking me to check in on the two of you. Which is strange given the fact that you two were supposed to have dinner with your family yesterday. Tried to pry it out of her but she refused to take my call. So Oliver, what did you do?”

“ _ She _ is the one that left!” Oliver snaps. His anger about the whole situation getting the best of him. However, it is comforting to know that he is not the only one Felicity is avoiding. 

He sees Lucas peering up at him, his blue eyes widening at Oliver’s tone. Oliver takes a deep breath and sighs, the baby may not understand what is going on but Oliver refuses to talk ill about his mother in front of him.

Except, Felicity isn’t really is mother is she?

Who is he kidding, of course she is. She may not want to be but Lucas decided that all on his own the moment he laid eyes on her. 

“Are you going to tell me what  _ actually _ happened? Or are you going to stand there and stare at your feet hoping the problem will sort itself out?” Diggle remarks sarcastically. Oliver  _ really _ does not need the attitude, but he also knows that if anyone can help both he and Felicity get through this so that it’s the best case scenario for Lucas, it is John Diggle.

Oliver sighs and takes a step towards Felicity’s workstation. He grabs his phone on the table and tosses it to his friend. Diggle catches the phone with ease his brow wrinkling in confusion, but the moment he looks at Oliver’s phone - more specifically his background picture of Oliver, Felicity and Lucas mid laugh- a look of understanding crosses his face.

“I’m guessing Moira wanted to do some portraits?” Oliver nods not surprised by his friend’s deduction. “I’m also going to guess everything became incredibly real, between you and Felicity  _ with _ Lucas and Felicity panicked?”

Oliver grunts out a nearly inaudible reply, hating that he feels so rejected about all this. He knew her help was temporarily but so much harder to accept. Who is he kidding, Felicity’s rejection of his son isn’t what hurts the most, it’s that she is rejecting  _ him  _ as well. After all this time, he finally figures out what he wants, who he wants and he never contemplated the fact that she might not what they same things he does.

“Umm, I’m actually more surprised  _ you  _ did not run,” Diggle quips his brown eyes trained making Oliver feel like a Petri dish under a microscope.

“I told you, I won’t abandon my son!” Oliver growls hotly. 

“No, but you’re mad that  _ Felicity _ abandoned your son...and  _ you.”  _ Diggle points out, hitting the nail on the head and Oliver hates that he’s right.

“Felicity has no obligations to Lucas...or to me,” Oliver grunts out. He knows it’s true. At the end of the day Felicity is not Lucas’ mother and she has no obligation to Oliver’s son despite what the baby calls her. Oliver knows that, but he just thought….he  _ hoped _ things would have been different.

“Did Felicity say that?” Diggle counters. He crouches next to brand new playpen Oliver’s mother had picked out and scoops up Lucas who is starting to get fussy.

To Oliver’s surprise though his son does not try to get to him but instead lays his head on Diggle’s chest, his thumb in his mouth. Lucas’ blue eyes are trained on Oliver, he even has a little wrinkle on his forehead and Oliver stupidly wonders if the baby is far more aware of what’s going on than he gives him credit for. 

“Oliver, man that’s not how these things work. I know you’ve been alone for better half of a decade, but it’s not just you anymore and I’m not talking about only Lucas. You can’t make these kind of decisions about your life and Lucas’ without talking to Felicity  _ especially _ if she wants to be apart of  _ both  _ your lives. Did you stop to think about how this instantaneous family would affect Felicity? Especially since you and her have been dancing around each other and your feelings for the better part of a year?  _ Lucas _ has made it clear on wanting Felicity in his life, and yet  _ you _ have not. Don’t you see how hard this is for her? To be a mother to this baby is a lifetime commitment. A commitment that could very well involved her watching you fall in love with someone else somewhere down the line. It puts her own life on hold.”

“I’m not gonna meet anyone else! It’s always been Felicity!” Oliver replies hotly, annoyed that Diggle would even suggest that.

“Does  _ Felicity _ know that?”

Oliver pauses at his friend's words. She  _ has _ to know how he feels about her by now. Doesn’t she?

“Oliver! You can’t assume something like that!” Diggle says in exasperation and to both men’s surprise Lucas looks at Oliver and babbles loudly huffing out in equal exasperation throwing his little arms up in the air.

“That’s just…”

“ _ Exactly _ , like Felicity right?” Oliver points out with amusement.

Diggle shakes his head looking down at the baby then back at Oliver in slight disbelief, “the kids right though, you need to talk to her lay out all your feelings and your intentions towards her. So when she makes her decision she has all the information. She probably thinks you only want to be with her for Lucas.”

“But that’s not true! I’ve been in love with her for…”

“Longer than you realized, I know.” Diggle quips with a laugh, “ _ Felicity _ does not know that. Just be honest with her.”

His friend makes it sound as though it’s the simplest and easiest thing Oliver will have to do. It’s anything  _ but _ . Deciding to raise Lucas on his own, seems like a much easier decision.

“Ma!” Lucas demands suddenly. He slaps Diggle on the shoulder, then frowns and burst into tears, immediately reaching for Oliver.

“It’s okay. He did not have a nap today, and with Felicity gone, he’s been more cranky than normal.” Oliver explains on seeing Diggle’s concern. He rubs Lucas’ back soothingly and presses a kiss to his head, but Lucas only whimpers in return crying out for Felicity.

“Like father, like son,” Diggle quips, ignoring Oliver’s scowl. He ruffles Lucas’ blond hair but the baby only tries to move away from him, still crying into Oliver’s shoulder. “I’m heading out, try not to do anything stupid. Also, you might want to change the kid’s diaper.”

Oliver only huffs in response and shifts Lucas to his other hip frowning when he gets a whiff of an all to familiar smell, “Code brown, really? As if this place doesn’t smell bad enough as it is.”

His joke goes on deaf ears and Lucas looks at him with pink cheeks, eyes red and full of tears and Oliver heart breaks for his son. “I know buddy, I miss her too.”

“Mama,” Lucas cries out pleadingly, his little hand clench in a fist in displeasure.Oliver makes space on one of the tables to change him, the baby barely even moves. Typically, when they are changing his diaper Lucas always tries to escape, not wanting to lie still. Now, he lies on his back allowing Oliver to change his diaper, crying out earnestly for Felicity.

“I’m sorry buddy, Daddy messed up,” Oliver confesses crestfallen. After buckling the last of Lucas’ onesie her gathers the baby in his arms, hugging his crying son to his chest. “I’m gonna fix it, I promise.”

* * *

Felicity sits in the middle of her couch, the silence around her deafening. When she ran from the mansion earlier, her only goal was to get away from Oliver and the entire overwhelming situation. She did not think about the fact that both Oliver and his son have infiltrated her life so much in the past few weeks, every inch of her apartment reeks of them. Her kitchen sink was filled to the brim with baby bottles waiting to be cleaned. Her living room littered with Lucas’ stuffed animals and toys. One of Oliver’s jackets was hanging on her coat rack, his sneakers packed neatly to one side of her living room. The blanket and pillow he has been using for the past few days were still neatly packed on her couch when she got home. All three of them have toothbrushes hanging out in a little cup, Oliver’s toiletries mixed with hers and Lucas’ bathtub sits in the shower filled with toys. 

They are everywhere and she misses them greatly.

Suffice to say coming straight home did the  _ opposite _ effect. The moment she sits on her couch she is hit with Oliver’s familiar scent and she is immediately taken back to that morning in his bed. She remembers the feel of his kisses in vivid detail.

Everything with Lucas and then Oliver happened so quickly, she got scared and quite frankly she panicked and ran. The fear that Oliver only wants her now because of Lucas’ attachment to her will always be nagging at the back of her mind.

She’s a certified genius, and logically she knows there has always been  _ something _ between her and Oliver. An undercurrent of suppressed feelings that either of them refused to address. Oliver told her as much when he said ‘because of the life he leads he could  _ never _ be with someone he could care about.’

She’s smart enough to know that was directed at her. Except, Oliver’s life has now changed  _ drastically _ in the past few weeks and for the better, in her humble opinion. Lucas has changed Oliver’s perspective on life, so much so he is more cautious, or more specifically less  _ reckless _ with his life. He as a purpose now, a  _ healthy _ outlook on life. She’s not even sure if Oliver himself has realized how much he’s changed since meeting his son. It’s everything she ever hoped for him.

Which is why, she worries if he is projecting his feelings onto her and he  _ thinks _ this is what he wants because it’s clearly what  _ Lucas _ wants. She adores Lucas. She spent one afternoon by herself for the first time in weeks and she knows already, without a doubt she needs Lucas in her life. She can’t imagine her life without the baby.

Yes, she is  _ that _ far gone for Oliver’s son.

The problem is Oliver, it always goes back to Oliver for her. She could not bare the thought of Oliver waking up one morning and realize she is  _ not _ want she wanted, and he only thought that way because of Lucas. She just can’t take a chance on her heart like that. Her memories of Cooper using her for her brain and then leaving still fresh in mind, despite the fact that it’s been almost three years since that fateful day in her senior year.

She won’t take that kind of chance again.

Felicity sighs deeply and rubs her eyes. She’s been sitting in her living room in silence for the past few hours consumed with her thoughts. She needs sleeps, she needs to stop thinking about Oliver and his adorable son. 

The only problem is she  _ misses _ them. She constantly wonders if Lucas is okay, if Oliver was able to get him down for his nap. Bedtime might be a whole other affair, because for the past few weeks they have been putting Lucas to bed together. Yes, the previous night he went easily enough with Thea and Moira, but a small selfish part of her hopes he misses her just as much as she misses them.

“Stop doing this to yourself, Smoak.” She reprimands to herself, “you made your bed, now you gotta lie in it.  _ Alone _ .”

She rises to her feet making her way to the bathroom, on seeing Lucas’ teeny little toothbrush she sighs yet again. She’s itching to text Oliver, to check up on Lucas, but he has not contacted her either. At the time she was grateful that he gave her space, but now she just wants to know that they are okay.

She’s turned into a Mom and she did not even realize the moment she was no longer helping Oliver out with Lucas, but  _ raising _ Oliver’s son with him.

She is brushing her teeth when she hears it. 

A familiar cry.

_ Lucas. _

Her heart skips a beat and she immediately spins out the toothpaste and yanks the bathroom door open eagerly. She hears the cry again, almost as though it’s coming from her hallway. She sprints to the front door pulling it open with such force it bounces off the wall. Except the hallway is deserted, silent.

“Now you’re just losing it, Smoak.” She huffs out to the empty hallway, and slaps her front door shut. She makes her way back to the bathroom to finish her night time ritual, shaking her head at her own ridiculousness.

A few minutes later she crawls into her empty bed, with a heavy heart. One of Lucas’ blankets is tossed haphazardly on her bed, and she reaches for it immediately and tucks it under her chin, breathing in his familiar baby scent, her eyes filling with tears.

After a few restless moments of tossing and turning, she grabs her phone off the bedside table and fires off a quick text to Oliver before she changes her mind.

_ Kiss Lucas goodnight for me _ .

She clutches the phone in her hand, about to delete the message before he reads it, but then her phone vibrates in her hand and her breath hitches at the picture attached. Lucas is curled up in Oliver’s bed asleep a pacifier in his mouth, his cheeks stained pink and she just knows he cried himself to sleep. Even if his cheeks weren’t a dead giveaway she also knows they only give Lucas his pacifier at bedtime when he is being particularly fussy and his bedtime bottle does not put him to sleep. 

She feels like the worst mother in the world. 

That’s what she is though, his mother.

A few seconds later her phone buzzes again, and she eagerly grabs it, hoping for another picture, instead its three little words that completely shatter her already fragile heart.

** _We miss you._ **

She holds back a sob, the ‘we’ not lost to her. She fires back a text just as quickly before she loses her resolve and then tosses her phone to the other side of the bed, emotionally spent and knowing she will have a restless night and she only has herself to blame.

_ I miss you both, too. _

* * *

“I had a bet going with myself about long it would take you to show up here,” Felicity opens her front door with a flourish not bothering with pleasantries.

“Did you lose?” Diggle fires back easily He offers her a large cup of coffee and smiles at her sympathetically.

“Yes, because I thought after I sent you to check on Oliver and Lucas, you would have given me some space,” Felicity accuses.

“I did what you asked. I checked on your boys, I gave you the night to your space, but now I’m here. To see how  _ you _ are doing,” Diggle says easily as he takes a seat on her sofa, shaking his head when a stuffed giraffe pokes him in the leg.

“They aren’t  _ my boys _ ,” Felicity protests weakly, just as Diggle pulls Oliver’s tie from between the couch and he gives her an incredulous look.

“Now, you don’t believe that, if that were the case you would have never sent me to check on them,” Diggle remarks his dark brown eyes piercing into her. “They both miss you by the way.”

Felicity bites her lip at his words, “I know. I miss them too.”

“You know, it’s okay if you don’t want to do this,” Diggle reassures her, his words only making her feel even more guilty. “It’s a lot to ask, and Oliver would understand.”

“I can’t just abandon them, John,” Felicity remarks with a sigh, “who am I kidding I did anyway.”

“I’m not saying abandon them. No matter what you decide Oliver and Lucas will always be in your life. You know that. But, you do not need to be in Lucas life as a parent. There are other ways you can still be in his life,” Diggle points out reasonably.

Except the idea of another woman raising Lucas, raising Lucas  _ with _ Oliver and Lucas calling her  _ mom _ fills her with so much unexpected rage. She only wants that for herself.

She  _ wants _ to be Lucas’ mother in every way that counts not just some fun  _ aunt _ that sees him on occasions.

“But, that’s not what you want is it?” Diggle deduces with a warm comforting smile.

“You’re gonna tell me I’m crazy right?”

“You, Felicity Smoak are one of the best people I know.” Her friend will always be her biggest cheerleader, “all I’m going to say is make sure this is what you  _ really _ want because you can’t change your mind on this. Lucas can’t afford you changing your mind, hell if I’m being honest neither can Oliver for that matter.”

“Oh you’re right, here I am deciding I want to be Lucas mother and I haven’t even asked Oliver if that’s what he wants,” Felicity groans throwing her head back against the couch.

“We both know this has nothing to do with you being Lucas’ mother and everything to do with what it means for your relationship  _ with _ Oliver,” Diggle points out knowingly.

“Oliver and I don’t have a relationship,” Felicity protests, despite this her mind automatically goes back to the kiss they shared the precious day, “besides too much is at stake for us to even contemplate something like that...not that I am.”

“Felicity, you’re smarter than that,” Diggle remarks unimpressed and clearly seeing right through her lies. “You need to talk to Oliver about this, you can’t go into this thing with uncertainties or worse expectations that may not happen.”

“See you agree with me, there is nothing there. So why should I bring something up that all a moot point? It will only make it more difficult for us to work as parents together. It’s better off to leave it all under the rug.”

“Felicity, you know that is  _ not  _ what I meant,” Diggle protests clearly seeing right through her avoidance and not pleased in the slightest.

Well tough for him, Felicity has already made one life alternating decision she’s not about to take a chance on her heart any time soon. She rises to her feet before her friend can protest again, “I’m going to get ready for work. I’ll meet you at the office?”

“No, I’ll take you in.” Comes the stubborn reply, “you can’t avoid this conversation forever you know,”

Felicity scowls and turns on her heel heading to her bedroom. She may not be able to put off the inevitable, but she will try her damndest to prolong it though. 

For now at least.

* * *

“Buddy, you gotta give me a break here,” Oliver calls out pleadingly as he bounces a crying Lucas in his arms. 

He’s walking the length of his office Lucas clinging to him, despite all the toys and blanket laid out in front of him for the baby to play with. Lucas has not been dealing well with Felicity’s absence. Neither of them slept the previous night, Oliver and instead of staring at the four walls of Oliver’s bedroom, he decided to take Lucas out for some fresh air. 

There was only place either of them wanted to go to and they even made it as far Felicity’s front door before Oliver lost his nerve and headed back to his car. It was the cowards way out. 

The next morning Oliver received a reminder from his mother that he had some paperwork that needed to be signed for the new Applied Science division, as on paper he is still acting CEO. That is how they both ended up back at QC, Oliver trying to get some work done, but Lucas refusing to relinquish his hold on him. 

“C’mon buddy, Auntie Thea is coming for you and you’re gonna see the lions. You like the lions, remember?” Oliver cajoles, but Lucas seems almost inconsolable at the moment.

The sound of heels clicking on the linoleum, pulls him from his son, and he only hopes its either his mother or Thea coming to take Lucas off his hands for a few hours. When he spins around though he’s greeted with Laurel standing at the entrance to his office a scowl on her face.

He casts a fleeting glance at Felicity’s empty desk wishing for her presence yet again. This was supposed to be the week when they both started going back to work, and yet he is here in the office on his own without her. She seems to be missing from every aspect of his life lately, and he hates it.

“Laurel, now is not really a good time,” He says testly over Lucas cries. He takes a few quick steps towards her, to prevent her from coming into the office, but she side steps him and instead walks up to the small pile of baby things in the middle of the office.

“So it’s true then. You knocked up, some poor girl? Your  _ secretary _ ?” Laurel hisses. She folds her arms over her chest and looks at Lucas with mild annoyance. 

Yes, his crying is particularly loud, but he’s clearly not in a good mood. If Olive believed in energies and zen, he would be certain she would be giving off endless negative energies, or at least that’s what Felicity would say.

“What do you want Laurel? I have a busy day, and as you can see I have my hands full already.” Oliver snaps back. He moves around the small room, not paying her any mind as he searches of Lucas’ favourite pacifier, which he knows the baby had when they got into QC this morning.

“Does she know what happened between us after Tommy’s funeral and  _ before _ Tommy died?” Laurel counters, and he can tell she’s already doing the math in her head. 

She should save her breath, because it’s been a few weeks and Oliver still has not figured it out.

“What happened between us, should have never happened,  _ neither _ time.” Oliver replies frankly. 

He misses her response when he finds Lucas’ pacifier on the seat of his chair. He sucks on the pacifier cleaning it free of any dust or germs then holds it up for Lucas enticingly, “It’s Binky!”

Lucas scuffles softly and peers at the pacifier thoughtfully, after a few seconds, he finally reaches for it and then puts in his mouth, Oliver breathing a sigh of relief. Oliver turns on his heels and holds back his groan of disappointment when he realizes that Laurel is still there.

She looks at him dumbfounded, almost as though she does not recognize him. Not that he blames her, he sometimes can hardly recognize himself now.

“So, you’re Mr. Mom, now?” Still with the accusatory tone, and Oliver’s patience for her is dwindling by the second.

“I’m his  _ father _ ,” Oliver clarifies his annoyance evident in his tone. He shifts Lucas to his other side and unconsciously away from Laurel. “What exactly are you accusing me of today Laurel? I had a long night, and I do not have time to play twenty questions with you. If all you want to know is my son and who his mother is, I suggest you pick up a magazine at your nearest pharmacy.”

With those final words he turns on his heel and makes his way back to his desk. He takes a seat on the chair, and after ensuring Lucas is situated on his lap and has something to occupy himself with, he grabs one of his pens to get back to his paperwork. He looks up only to see Laurel is still standing in front of his desk staring at him.

“You have a son and that’s all I get?” Laurel says incredulously, Oliver can see the way her hands are shaking, no jittering and she sways each time she tries to stand still.

“We have not been together since I got back from the island, something you made perfectly clear to me dozens of times. I don’t owe you an explanation, Laurel. I think it’s time that you leave.” This time he leaves no room for argument, as far as he’s concerned their conversation is over.

This time his gaze does not waver from her until she leaves the room like he asked.

Except she does not leave, Oliver does not want to have to call security on her, but she is leaving him no choice. He has the receiver in his hand about to make the call, when Lucas starts bouncing in his lap, Binky hits Oliver on the knee before it goes tumbling to the floor and under his desk. Oliver sighs in exasperation, until Lucas’ words catches his attention.

“Mama! Mama! Mama!” 

_ Felicity _ .

Lucas practically chats arms out stretch reaching out for Felicity, who makes a beeline for them in a flurry of long blonde hair and fuscia pink. She plucks Lucas out of Oliver’s arms peppering numerous kisses all over the baby’s face. Lucas giggling out loudly in delight.

She’s back.

“Baby boy! Mommy missed you.” Felicity preens between kisses hugging the baby as close to her as she can. “I’m so sorry.”

Oliver’s heart clenches at her words, she’s never addressed herself in that manner. All this time while Oliver may have referred to her as such to Lucas in private, Felicity has never once called herself that when speaking to the baby. Oliver’s mind is racing at the implications, he has so many questions for her about all of this means for  _ them _ . 

“You’re his  _ mother _ ? Ollie, you said nothing was going on between you and your secretary,” Laurel accuses reminding Oliver that yes she is still here. Oliver is almost certain Laurel does not even know that Felicity existed, so her statement is unjust. “QC press release stated that the mother was out of the picture.”

She’s getting agitated now, and Oliver knows it has nothing to do with him, and everything with whatever has been going on with her lately. He just does not have the temperament to deal with nor does he want to, but he makes a mental note to give Sara a call, so at least someone will look out for her. She deserves that much at least.

“I’m his mother in every way that counts,” Felicity replies firmly, and Laurel is not the only one thats taken back, for completely different reasons. 

“Ms. Lance, let me show out,” Diggle suddenly appears in the room, taking Laurel by the elbow. He nods at Oliver in understanding before he ushers the other woman out of the room.

“You should really call Sara about that,” Felicity says thoughtfully, her fingers are rubbing Lucas’ back but her eyes are trained on Laurel, who brushes off Diggle’s hand as they exist Felicity’s office. “Laurel is not looking to well.”

“ _ Felicity _ ,” Oliver breathes out, his focus only on Felicity’s early declaration. 

Felicity smiles at him shyly, her arms tightening around Lucas, almost as though she’s afraid he would take him. He could  _ never _ . “I was going to talk to you about that. I don’t want you to think I was just making assumptions and telling everyone I’m Lucas mother. I mean I’d like to be...if you want me to...if you both to...Ugh...I went over this entire conversation in my head on the drive over here. But then Laurel’s stupid comment rubbed me the wrong way and I snapped. Maybe I should start all over….” 

“ _ Felicity _ ,” Oliver calls out soothingly. He places a hand on her shoulder, hopefully calming her nerves.

“I had a whole speech prepared and everything,” She says earnestly, and that he has no doubt, his girl is nothing if not prepared.

“Felicity,  _ you’re _ Lucas mother,” Oliver says firmly leaving no room for doubt or confusion.

“Yea,” she says breathless, no hint of a question, only confirmation. Her cheeks are bright pink almost the same colour as her dress, “I’m his Mom.”

Oliver nods, he can feel tears prickling behind his eyes, “you are.”

“Mama!” 

Even Lucas chimes in agreement. 

She’s his Mama.


	10. Chapter 10

“You and Ollie  _ aren’t _ together?” Thea repeats, staring at Felicity incredulously.

It’s the second time the teen has repeated the question to Felicity almost as though she’s hoping for a different response. 

Felicity shakes her head in the negative taking a sip of her hot chocolate. There is no point answering Thea, when the teen already knows what her response will be. 

It’s a pretty cold winter day, so they decided to take Lucas to the Aquarium in order to get him out of the apartment. The mansion although gigantic still feels closed off, and not much to do for a baby, much less her apartment which is like a fishbowl in comparison.

She looks across at the aquarium that spans almost three floors, Lucas has his face pressed to the glass staring at the beluga whales swimming in front of him with rapid attention. 

He tried to slap the glass a few times so Oliver now has a firm grin on the toddler’s hands. Despite this, it does not stop Lucas from pressing his whole body against the glass.

“I think he’s gonna start walking soon,” Thea says excitedly, giving up on her previous interrogation for now, Felicity knows from past experiences Thea likes to spring these conversations on Felicity on hoping to surprise her. She bounces around Felicity as they trail behind Oliver and Lucas, Felicity forgot how much energy she had as a teenager too.

Oliver had pointed out to Felicity that ever since Lucas came into their lives his sister seems much less jaded and carefree, responsibly so, since he returned from the island.

Seems like their son had been a positive influence on more than just their lives. Even Oliver’s mother has made changes, she decided to join the board of directors of QC as a silent partner and instead of working in the office she is taking care of Lucas while Oliver and Felicity are at work. 

Felicity is pretty sure no one is more surprised than Moira at her latest role. Yes, Moira, she’s on a first name basis with Oliver’s mother. She is not sure how this has become her life. The only reason she is not on this trip to the aquarium because it’s her day off without Lucas. Oliver and Thea are pretty sure Moira will show up before the end of the day.

“Yea, last night we thought he was going to stand on his own, but then he got distracted by the snack Oliver was offering him,” Felicity says with a laugh, remembering how excited Lucas got at trying a new food, he’s gotten to the point that he will try any snack they give him. The previous night he threw himself at Oliver, mouth first to get to the snack.

“A boy after my own heart,” Thea says with a laugh.

Felicity only nods in response, Lucas’ enthusiasm reminds Felicity of herself, something she has already pointed out to Oliver. 

Something she has not told him, however, is the fact that she has widened her searches to find Lucas’ biological mother. She knows Oliver would say it’s pointless and the woman does not matter, but Felicity needs to know for her own peace of mind and as well if they are going to make this official they are going to need to get her to sign off all her rights to Lucas. It’s bad enough there seems to be no birth record at all in Starling City. Felicity is still running his prints against hospital databases for over a month now and nothing has shown up. It’s almost as though their son did not exist for the first 10 months of his life.

The whole thing about it gives Felicity a headache and when she tries to get Oliver to give her a little bit more information about the women that he was with, on returning from the island, he closes up.

Despite everything they have been through Oliver struggles with opening up to her. When it comes to Lucas he’s an open book, everything else is still difficult for him. It’s one of the many reasons she assumes they have not discussed their kiss or broached the subject of  _ them _ . 

Discussed or not that kiss is still in the forefront of her mind. When she’s lying in her empty bed the memory of Oliver’s eager kisses, the feel of his heavy body overtakes her thoughts.

Something they have also not addressed is their current living arrangement. They bought a crib for Lucas and are in the process of converting Felicity’s study into a small nursery. Oliver still sleeps on the couch  _ most _ nights. Some nights they find themselves in Felicity’s bed watching cartoons with Lucas to get him to sleep and they all end up crashing on her bed.

She has not broached that particular topic with Oliver, because selfishly she does not want either of them to move out, but eventually Lucas will outgrow her small study and more importantly Oliver needs his own space.

Who would have thought being co-parents would have been the easiest decision they have ever made?

“Mama! Mama!” Lucas calls out to her, his little legs moving rapidly as he tries to walk to her, but his hands have a firm grip on Oliver’s fingers, who is crouched over him. 

“Hi baby, did you like seeing all the big fishes?” She coos scooping up Lucas and planting a kiss on his cheek. She wrinkles her nose when she tastes the last bit of the carrot cupcake he has eaten.

“I think the sharks scared him,” Oliver says with a laugh ruffling Lucas’s blond hair. 

“Maybe if you stopped telling him stories about you getting bitten by a shark, He would not be so scared of the idea.” Felicity quips. She does not know the full details of that particular story but the gist of it was that he was swimming in a sunken ship looking for something and got bit by a shark. 

It seems like the only story has on that island that he looks back on and laughs at, she’s certain the circumstances was not funny in the slightest but he seems proud of it. Or he just enjoys pretending to be a shark and “bite” Lucas who enjoys that game all the time.

“Arrr!” Lucas parrots and then tries to gum Felicity’s cheek but unlike his father does not know how to do that and four little teeth sink into Felicity’s chin.

“Hey little shark no biting, Mommy,” Oliver says sternly, “only kisses.”

So maybe the shark game is a terrible idea.

Oliver then kisses Felicity cheek and Lucas follows suit and kisses her right over the red spot he just bit.

It’s something they have both been doing to instill manners and gentleness in Lucas when he gets a little bit too excited and rough. 

“Not together my ass,” Thea grunts out next to them, reminding them that they aren’t alone.

Felicity blushes and Oliver grumbles something about jellyfish and takes Lucas from Felicity. 

They really should talk about this weird thing between them, Thea gives Felicity a knowing smirk and Felicity only huffs in response quickly catching up with her boys.

Her boys.

Yea she needs to talk to Oliver soon.

“Wait, did you say shark? Ollie, you got bitten by a  _ shark _ ?”

* * *

“You know, you should just put a ring on it,” Thea quips in amusement.

Oliver startles at her voices and tears his gaze away from Felicity who is a few feet away staring at turtles with Lucas, “ _ Speedy,  _ can you keep it down? Felicity might hear you.”

He realizes belatedly, that was the wrong thing to say when his sister’s grin only widens and full of mischief, “oh it’s fine I’ve told her worse,”

Oliver sighs, he knows she’s egging him on, but can’t seem to stop himself from reacting, “can you please stop teasing her? I’d like to actually take her out on a date, before you start hinting at weddings.”

“You’re  _ finally _ gonna ask her out?” Thea grins, “when? Where are you taking her? You know if you wait too long some guy is gonna sweep your girl off her feet.”

“She’s not  _ my _ girl,” Oliver scowls at her words, hating that is  _ exactly _ what he’s worried about.. In the year that they’ve known each other, she’s never mentioned dating other than  _ one _ time and the idea of Felicity dating someone else eats away at him.

“My point exactly, time to step up bro,” Thea continues. She looks across at Felicity and Lucas, and snorts, “although, I think your wingman has you covered though.”

“Wingman, what wingman?” Oliver asks in confusion. He looks in Felicity’s direction, his fist clenching automatically when he sees some dude standing next to her and talking animatedly to her. 

From their vantage point he can see that Felicity is smiling, but he can also see that Lucas is definitely  _ not _ smiling. Their son’s little brow in crinkled in displeasure, his grip on Felicity’s jacket is obvious and he’s  _ glaring _ at the stranger. Oliver is almost certain if he could, their son would  _ physically _ push the guy away and it only makes Oliver laugh.

“I did  _ not _ teach him that,” Oliver points out with a proud smile and his sister only shakes her head.

“Yea, if you’re gonna tell Felicity that you have to try harder than that,” Thea points out. “Felicity is not going to be too pleased to see you’re using her son to keep guys away.”

“First off,  _ our _ son and second there are no  _ guys _ to keep away.”

“ _ Yet _ , stop dragging your feet, Ollie.”

Oliver growls about to protest again but realizes it’s futile. His sister, the little shit, is only smirking widely at him, clearly proud of herself, “I’m going to, alright? There just hasn’t been the right time.”

“No time like the present, big brother!” Thea claps and to Oliver’s horror grabs him by the arm and drags him towards Felicity and Lucas. The former sees them first, and she completely ignores the man talking to her and waves at them excitedly, Oliver can’t help but puff out his chest when the crestfallen stranger catches sight of them. 

Tough luck, dude.

“You should just pee around her, you would probably look less ridiculous,” Thea says far too loudly as far as Oliver’s concern.

“Shut up, Thea!” Oliver hisses just as Felicity and Lucas greet them, Felicity picks up on Oliver’s mood immediately and frowns.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Both siblings chime in together, only cementing Felicity’s suspicions when she turns to look at him questioningly.

“What’s wrong is that Lucas and I have not seen the jellyfishes!” Thea cheers and Lucas grins jumping into her arms immediately, “Let’s go see the ones that glow in the dark.”

“You, okay?” Felicity asks Oliver again when Thea is out of earshot.

“Yea, uh, Felicity, would you like to go out for coffee?” Oliver asks her almost tripping over his words.

“Make it a hot chocolate and you’re on,” Felicity say smiling brightly at him in return, “Maybe I can see if they will warm up some water for me so I can make Lucas bottle. I think the lack of nap is getting to him. I was talking to one of the aquarium tour guides and Lucas kept growling at the poor guy. Definitely needs a nap, or at least his bottle.”

She trails after Thea and Lucas, but pauses when she notices that Oliver does not follow her, “Oliver?”

“Oh yea, hot chocolate, with whip cream and caramel?” Oliver asks, as he ignores the way his heart sinks at her brush off.

“You know the way to my heart, Queen,” Felicity teases.

If only.

* * *

“Mama! mama! Mama!” Lucas chants slapping the plastic table with far too much force. 

Thea has a firm grip on Lucas, but the toddler is trying to pull himself along the table and bench to get to Felicity who is current blowing on a hot churro to cool it. Correction, Lucas is trying to get to the  _ churro _ that is dripping with melting chocolate.

“Lucas, stop that,” Thea protests with a laugh. She scoops him up and tries to get him to sit on her lap but he starts to crawl on the table towards Felicity, his mouth opening and closing in anticipation.

Felicity laughs out loud at her son, she has a firm grip on one of his arms as he stops midway and sits on the bench looking at her expectantly. He reaches for the churro but she stretches her arm out of his reach. “It’s hot!”

“Mama!” Lucas calls out clearly frustrated and Thea only snorts in amusement. She has her hands on his waist ensuring he does not fall over, but Lucas is only focused on the churro in his mother’s hands.

Felicity rolls her eyes at his impatience and breaks off a small bit of the churro with chocolate. After blowing it again, she bites off a small piece, the moment her tongue touches the creamy chocolate though she freezes. Her eyes begin to water, her breathing suddenly becomes erratic and with each breath it takes more and more effect to get oxygen to her lungs.

“Felicity!” 

Her vision becomes blurry, she tries to focus on Lucas. She can hear Thea shouting her name, and familiar strong arms around her waist just as she begins to fade.

“Felicity, Felicity where is your Epi pen?” Oliver’s voice is muffled, like he’s shouting through ocean trying to get her attention.

She does not have her handbag, she slipped her phone and wallet in Lucas’ baby bag and thought nothing of it. She can hear the baby crying loudly, Oliver shouting for any kind of aid to help her. His face is a blur in front of her, she’s not sure if its because she lost her glasses as she was falling or if it's another effect of the anaphylactic shock.

She gasps suddenly when she feels a sharp jab to her thigh, she can feel the tightness in her chest slowly decreasing, but her breath still laboured. She feels fingers running through her hair, her head now cradled in Oliver’s lap.

“I got you,” he whispers softly.

She can hear the muffle voices of Thea asking what she ate, Oliver growling about the fact that they said the chocolate had no nuts in it. She wants to grab his hand, tell him it’s okay, but her limbs feel heavy, her chest tight. Her vision tunnels, and the last things she sees before she closes her eyes is Oliver’s blurry face, and Lucas screams in the background.

* * *

She slowly wakes to the sound of methodical beeping, and a weight resting on her arm. Her eyes flutter open and she’s assaulted by unfamiliar, fluorescent lights. Her entire body aches and her chest feels heavy. 

She groans softly and immediately the head on her arm raises and she can just barely make out Oliver’s concern face hovering over her.

“Hey,” she groans out softly, the fluorescent lights making her blink.

“Felicity,” Oliver say breathlessly, his hand moving to cup her face, “you’re okay.”

He presses his forehead against hers and takes a deep breath as he continues to repeat those two words. She raises her hand and cups his face, pulling his focus on her. When their eyes meet she smiles reassuringly at him, “I’m okay.”

She’s only had allergic reactions 4 times in her life, each time more scarier than the last, but this is the first time  _ Oliver _ has experienced it and she can see the toll it has taken on him, written all over his face. He nods, but she can tell he’s still shaken. He presses his face into her neck, breathing her in. 

Since Lucas’ arrival, one of the biggest changes in Oliver, that she has seen, is how affectionate he has gotten. Oliver may still struggle with opening up in terms of talking to her, but he is far more affectionate than ever before. Not that she was privy to see Oliver in intimate settings before Lucas, but he shows so much affection to his son and herself, in the past few weeks.

Sometimes, she still can’t believe he is the same man, who just a few short months ago, told her he cannot be with someone he could care about, is the same person who crawls around her apartment on all fours as he chases their son. Oliver can get Lucas to laugh so much the baby ends up with hiccups. He’s grown a lot over the past few weeks with Lucas and he continues to do so, especially with her. She only hopes that maybe one day they can finally talk about the possibility of  _ them _ , because she’s ready. She’s ready to take that next step with Oliver, and she’s unsure if he is on the same page

“I guess the chocolate  _ did _ have nuts.” Felicity suddenly, her mind going back to the reason she’s in the hospital.

“I knew I should have tasted it,” Oliver grumbles Into her neck. He pulls back to look her in the eye and a small part of her misses the warmth of his body. “We told the kid no nuts. They shouldn’t even have that as an option.”

“It was a mistake,” Felicity soothes. She runs her fingers down his forearm trying to ease the tension in him, she can tell he’s still upset.

Oliver huffs, but nods in agreement, “they took your blood and once you’re all cleared we can leave. I also got you four epi pens. One for the office, at home, at the mansion then for you to keep on yourself. That way at least always have one just in case.”

Four is a bit much, especially given the fact these things expire within 6 months and she knows she hopefully would not be using any of them. But, if he needs it for his piece of mind, she won’t be opposed to it. “Okay, better safe than sorry.”

Oliver nods his head victoriously in agreement, “I refuse to take that chance with your life or Lucas’”

“Oh god, is he okay? I probably scared him so much.” Felicity bites her lips as she remembers Lucas tearful cries just before she passed out.

“Scared, can’t really explain to him what had happened, but Thea took him home after we did some allergy test on him,” Oliver says tiredly as he rubs his face. She can see the way the days events have taken a toll on him.

“Allergy test?” She asks suddenly, sitting up, she never even considered the fact that Lucas could have been allergic to nuts as well. The idea of their baby having that kind of allergic reaction to something she might have given him, makes her heart cease at the thought.

“Nuts, all form of nuts,” Oliver replies solemnly both of them aware of what the ramifications would have been, had she  _ not _ tasted the snack first.

“Oliver, if I had not tasted the chocolate….” she looks at him with horror, she had such a strong reaction to just licking the small bit of chocolate. If Lucas had tried it, he would have bitten off a huge piece and his little body wouldn’t have… he could have...

“Hey, hey, Felicity, hey. It’s okay. You’re okay, Lucas is okay and now we know to avoid those foods with him,” Oliver calls out soothingly, pulling her out of her spiral. 

He cups her chin, to pull her focus on him. He brushes his thumb against her cheek as their eyes meet, “Breathe with me, you’re both okay.”

She had not even realizes her breathing had started to get erratic. It’s a side effect of her allergic reactions. A few hours after the attack, she’s more prone to panic attacks, as its still difficult for her to catch her breath. She’s surprised Oliver even knows what to do and her heart swells. 

She follows Oliver’s cueing and slowly begins to take deep breaths with him, their eyes never faltering. “That’s it you got it.”

He continues to speak in low calming tones as they breathe in tandem. That’s when it hits her.

She’s in love with him. Unequivocally, without a doubt in love with Oliver Queen.

“I love you,” she gasps out, breathless all over again.

Oliver freezes at her words, his eyes wide in surprise. His grip tightening around her hand, “ _ Felicity.” _

Now that she’s said it, she doesn't know why she was so afraid to tell him in the first place. His awestruck expression makes her smile widely in response.

“I love you,” she repeats with a small carefree giggle. “I love…”

He cuts her off this time with his mouth on hers. Her own giggles dying on her lips as he deeps the kiss. She sighs against his mouth, her fingers running through his hair as she tugs him closer to her. 

She could spend the rest of her living kissing Oliver Queen, and would be perfectly content. Okay, that’s a blatant lie, she wants to do many, many things to Oliver Queen and none of them involve her in a hospital bed.

“I love you, too.” Oliver pulls back his breathing laboured. He presses his forehead against her own, their hot breaths mingling together. She sighs at his words and immediately raises her head to meet his lips again, but to her surprise Oliver pulls back slightly, stopping her before their lips meet. “You’re not supposed to exert yourself.”

“Since when you do follow the rules?” Felicity huffs out in exasperation, but she hates how hard she’s breathing and she knows by now she should have caught her breath.

Oliver only chuckles and presses a chaste kiss on her lips before he pulls back completely. He narrows his eyes playfully at her, “behave.”

Felicity sighs dramatically in defeat, but releases her hold on his shirt so that he can sit back on his chair, their hands still clasped on her lap. “Alright, but let the record show, as soon as you bust me out of this joint, I have plans for you Mr. Queen. Lots and lots of plans.”

“Noted,” Oliver says with a smile that not so quite reaches his eyes, and she can feel the self doubt beginning to set it. She begins to wonder if she sprung this on him too soon. 

“That’s not a good look,” she quips hoping to keep the moment light, despite the anxiety that’s beginning to rise.

“You’re sure about this, about us?” Oliver asks with uncertainty, and Felicity breathes a sigh of relief. Here she’s thinking that she’s sprung this on him, and he’s worried that  _ she’s _ unsure. They really do make quite the pair.

“Of course, are you?” she counters her own insecurity creeping in.

“Without a doubt,” Oliver replies instantaneously.

“Good,” She says with a shy smile. 

“Good.” Oliver echoes with an equally silly smile.


	11. Chapter 11

“ _ Oliver.”  _ Felicity giggles against his lips, her hand on his chest and she  _ should _ push him off, but she’s yet to move. “You’re gonna wake up Lucas.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who’s making all the noise,” Oliver teases just as he swipes his tongue along the curve of her neck.

Felicity grips his shirt this time for a completely different reason. They are currently making out like teenagers on her couch, while Lucas is asleep in his playpen on the other side of the room. 

He’s been cranky the past few days with two new teeth coming in, and thus, he’s been extra clingy with the both of them.

Felicity only growls and yanks Oliver so he’s now straddling her lap. She ignores his stupid smirking face and grabs him by the T-shirt crashing her mouth against his for a scorching kiss.

She pulls back with a loud gasp when Oliver’s lips finds its way on her neck. His teeth nip her skin gently and she gasps when his beard rubs against the sore area. 

She opens her eyes to pull Oliver’s lips back on hers and she freezes when she sees intense blue eyes staring back at her and they do  _ not _ belong to Oliver.

Lucas is standing in the playpen, little fingers gripping the edge as he stares back at her owlishly. 

“Da!” Lucas calls out impatiently a little growl punctuating his displeasure.

Both she and Oliver fly apart at Lucas’ word, Oliver’s eyes wide and he scrambles off of Felicity.

“ _ Felicity,”  _ Oliver breathes out in shock, Felicity’s eyes filling with tears

“Da!” Lucas calls out impatiently as he slaps the playpen.

“Hey buddy,” Oliver calls out softly. He moves towards Lucas and chuckles when Lucas calls out to him yet again, “yea that’s me. I’m your Dad.”

Oliver scoops up Lucas and moves back to the couch, Lucas already diving from Oliver’s arms and into Felicity.

“Did you hear him?” Oliver asks Felicity his voice giddy with excitement, despite the fact that he knows she heard Lucas.

“I did.” She says with a grin, “told you he was gonna say it,” 

She sticks her tongue out at him earning a laugh from Oliver in return. Oliver shakes his head and grabs hold of Lucas before the baby falls off the couch at the same time. He leans towards her and Felicity grins meeting him halfway, their lips barely meet before a loud resounding slap echoes in the living room.

“No!” Lucas shouts practically pushing at Oliver. 

_ That _ particular word, however, is  _ not _ new. In fact it seems to be their son’s current favourite word.. Felicity suspects it’s more to do with their reaction to him using the word than anything else.

“Hey, hey none of that,” Felicity says gently, she takes Lucas hand pulling him away from Oliver, “be gentle with, daddy.”

She presses a kiss to Lucas’ clenched fist and then leans forward to kiss Oliver again, but Lucas is having none of that and pushes at Oliver again. He grips Felicity’s t-shirt and growls at Oliver trying to push him away.

“I don’t think he wants you to kiss me,” Felicity says with a giggle. She leans in to kiss Oliver again but Lucas reaches up and places his tiny hand on her mouth, growling in protest.

“Lucas!” Oliver huffs unable to hold back his own laughter. 

“No!” Lucas replies stubbornly, pushing at Oliver again. 

Felicity only laughs louder throwing herself back onto the couch, Lucas is sitting on her lap, little eyes narrowing suspiciously at Oliver. Lucas takes her arm that’s resting on Oliver’s leg and places it on himself. Felicity giggles again and sends Oliver a cheeky smile, “I don’t think he wants to share.”

She proves her point to pepper kisses all on Lucas’s cheeks and neck, the baby giggling madly. When she stops, Lucas only turns to Oliver and smile, tightening his grip on Felicity’s arm, “Mama.”

“Oh my, a bit territorial there. Wonder where he gets  _ that _ from?” Felicity teases. Oliver only growls, but then Lucas follows suit and growls as well. 

Oliver only laughs in response he then scoops Lucas out of Felicity’s arms and peppers the toddler with kisses, after he pulls Lucas away and swoops down and kisses Felicity. Felicity laughs against his lips as Lucas stands on Oliver’s lap and tries to push his father away in protest.

“I’m gonna get Thea to watch him,” Oliver grumbles against Felicity’s lips before he finally pulls away. He huffs when Lucas, pushes at him to get to Felicity and then turns around glares at him.

“Oliver, it’s after midnight,” Felicity bites her lip to hold back her laughter. Lucas seems to have grown tired of both of them and crawls off her lap and onto the floor, going for one of his stuffed animals.

“Oliver?”

“Um?”

“Would you like to go out to dinner with me?”

“What? No!” Oliver sits up looking at her put out.

“What do you mean no?” Felicity asks sitting up as well to look at him incredulously.

“I was supposed to ask  _ you _ out.” Oliver practically whines, and he reminds Felicity of their son when he does not get his way. “I  _ tried  _ asking you out before and you said no.”

“Um, no. You have never asked me out before. I would have remembered that,” Felicity points smile still tugging at her lips.

“I asked you out for coffee, you told me you wanted hot chocolate and somewhere to warm out son’s bottle. Not exactly the enthusiasm I was looking for,” Oliver points out teasingly.

“ _ That _ is not how you ask someone out!” Felicity protests, “we are so far past  _ coffee _ Oliver!”

“One could argue we are past first dates too,” Oliver counters cheekily.

Felicity only laughs in return, she glances back at Lucas, who is sitting in the corner of the living room playing with his toy blocks, and then crawls onto Oliver’s lap. She grins at Oliver’s surprised expression, “We are currently living together and raising a kid. We are hardly doing anything in the traditional sense. But if anyone asks, I’ll tell them you asked  _ me _ out.”

“Cute.” Oliver grumbles, but Felicity only grins and leans forward to kiss him.

They get lost in each other all for five minutes before a loud cry pulls them away again. Oliver sighs and presses his head against Felicity’s his hands running along her back, “He’s tired.”

“ _ Overtired.”  _ Felicity corrects, she reluctantly slides off his lap making her way to their son. 

She bites back her smile at the sound of Oliver’s dejected sigh, glad that she’s not the only one disappointed at being interrupted.

* * *

“He babbled the entire way over. Only a vocabulary of 5 words, but I swear he will suddenly start talking in full sentences,” Felicity says with a laugh as she takes a sip of her wine.

“Well, given who his mother is I would not be surprised at all,” Oliver says sweetly, and Felicity heart melts at the smile he sends her.

They have sat down for dinner for all of 20 minutes, and already the conversation has switched to Lucas, despite the fact that they both promised they will try to keep the baby talk to a minimum.

It’s the weirdest, yet least nerve wracking first date she has ever been on her life, and it’s  _ everything _ . 

Oddly enough she misses  _ Lucas _ despite the fact that they purposely are not with him, so that they can  _ finally  _ go on their date.

“You’re uncharacteristically quiet,” Oliver calls out softly. He takes her hand in his, lacing their fingers together. “Are you realizing that I’m too boring for you?”

“You, Oliver Queen have never been boring since the day you walked into my cubicle,” Felicity teases back easily. “I was thinking about Lucas.”

“We can call Thea, if you want. Our food won’t arrive for another 15 minutes at least,” Oliver says already pulling out his phone eagerly, and Felicity is comforted with fact that she isn’t the only one missing the chattering babbles of their son. “We can’t. Thea will think we don’t trust her. We dropped him off barely 15 minutes ago.”

“You’re right.” Despite his words, Oliver is still flipping his phone anxiously in his hand.

Felicity bites her lip and looks from his phone to his eyes, Oliver looking at her eagerly, waiting for her. “Okay, fine, but only to say goodnight.”

The phone is already dialing before she could finish her sentence and they both grin at each other excitedly in anticipation. However, when the call connects, they both freeze when they hear a loud familiar cry through the speakers.

“Speedy? Everything okay?” Oliver calls out with concern.

“Ollie, he won’t stop crying!” Thea sounds panicked and Oliver is up on his feet pulling out a few hundred dollar bills from his pocket and tossing it onto the table.

Felicity grabs their coats, hot on his heels as they make their way out of the building. From his conversation she has gathered that Lucas has a mild fever, and cough.

“Should we take him to the hospital?” Felicity asks Oliver anxiously as she jumps into the into the driver’s seat. She tosses her heels in the back and slips her feet into her sneakers already starting the car.

“Thea, did you hear that?” Oliver calls out, “is Roy with you? Can you meet us as Starling General? Hey, it’s okay, it’s not your fault, kids get sick. We’ll see you soon.”

Despite his soothing tone Felicity can see the worry across his face. She sees the way his fingers twitch as he hangs up with his sister and his leg bounces anxiously as looks across at her. “Drive.”

“Hey, he’s gonna be okay,” Felicity soothes, taking one of his hands in her as she steps on the gas. She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip and feels Oliver squeeze her thigh gently.

“It’s probably just a cold and we’re overreacting,” Oliver says reasonable but despite that he squeezes her thigh again. 

“This family needs to stop being regulars in the emergency department,” Felicity says conversationally.

“Agreed, twice in one week is enough for me.” Oliver replies as he checks his phone for messages. “Speaking of I need to update Lucas’ records with your information and sort out birth certificate and stuff.”

“I need to find his birth mother first before you do that,” Felicity points out, her grip tightening on the wheel. 

“Why? Not like she cares about him,” Oliver grumbles, “You’re his mother, not her.”

Felicity’s heart warms at his words, “I know, but much like the incident with the nuts, it’s important that we know where Lucas comes from. He will one day want to know who he comes from as well.”

“You’re still his mother,” Oliver replies stubbornly, but relents nonetheless. 

Felicity wants to ask him yet again about the possibility of the mother, if there is a way they can narrow things down in her search, but the car park for the hospital ER comes into view and she knows they have more important things to worry about. 

More specifically a more important person to worry about.

* * *

“Speedy, you did everything right. He’s okay, you heard the doctor, bringing him in was a precaution. You did good. It’s only the cold, some liquids and medication and he’ll be good as new.” Oliver promises again, his arms wrapped around his sister. Thea looks concern across at Felicity who is cradling a whimpering Lucas as she walks the length of the living room.

“I don’t understand how he could just get a fever so quickly,” Thea huffs, “He was fine when you brought him home.”

“He had the sniffles for the past day, but we didn’t think anything of it. It’s more on us than you Thea. He’ll be okay, thank you for taking such good care of him.” Felicity presses a kiss to the crank baby’s head and smiles warmly at Thea, “Hey buddy, you want to tell you Aunt Thea goodnight?”

Lucas only whines against her, his cheek nuzzling Felicity’s chest as he tugs at her red dress. They have noticed he only ever does that when he’s seeking comfort from her.

“He’ll be fine,” Oliver promises. He kisses Thea on the forehead, and takes a step back, “You’re sure you’ll be okay to get home?”

“Yea, Roy’s waiting downstairs already,” Thea promises, she casts one last glance at Lucas then looks back at Oliver, “I hope he feels better.”

“Okay, reach home safe.” Oliver says softly as he sees her off in the hallway.

When he returns to the living room, Lucas cries have increased and her and Felicity are nowhere in sight. Oliver frowns following Lucas cries to the bathroom to see a frazzled Felicity covered in throw up as she undresses a cranky Lucas.

“The milk did not stay down,” Felicity says unnecessary.

“The doctor said the pedialyte would be our next option,” Oliver says with a frown as he grabs the nearby baby wipes, “Let’s just wipe him down and tomorrow, we’ll give him a proper bath.”

Felicity nods in agreement as she tosses Lucas’ spoiled clothes into the bathtub. “I know baby, we got you.”

Felicity’s heart breaks as Lucas’ cries increases as Oliver wipes his face and chest. She rubs his belly, in hopes it soothes him, but the toddler only continues to kick and scream in protest. “He’s still a little warm.”

“I know, we have to give him the medication in two hours. I put the thermometer in your bedroom.” Oliver helps her with Lucas onesie, and then cradles their son to his chest, his own shirt not faring any better than Felicity’s dress. “Let me take him so you can get out of that dress.”

“You know, I imagined you saying that under different circumstances, tonight ,” Felicity quips cheekily. She can see the smile tugging on Oliver’s expression and she knows he’s thinking about not too long ago on an elevator shaft. “Not platonic circumstances. Very  _ non-platonic _ circumstances.”

Oliver groans at her words as he shifts Lucas in his arms, “you and me both.”

His disappointment is evident in his tone, but Lucas whimpers again and he rubs his back, pressing a soft kiss on his head. Felicity spins on her heels presenting her back to Oliver, “You need to unzip me,”

“Felicity, you’re killing me here.” Oliver groans, but despite his words, Felicity can feel his hand on her bare back, and she shivers at his touch. “Did I mention how much I love you in this dress?”

“You may have mentioned it, once or twice.” Felicity replies with a chuckle, her cheeks warming up. “Unzip me, Queen.”

“ _ Felicity _ .” Oliver groans, just before he grips the zipper and slowly brings it down.

Lucas loud cries, bring them back to reality, and Felicity takes a step away from Oliver and turns around to smile at him forlorn, “Next time?”

“It’s a date.” Oliver promises, he presses a chaste kiss to her lips, while Felicity rubs Lucas back, and they share one more look before he walks out of the bathroom, leaving her to change.

A few minutes later, she walks into her bedroom, makeup free and a plate with griledl cheese sandwiches in her hands. Oliver is still wearing his slacks from his date, but he has lost his shirt, and is resting in her bed, Lucas lying on his bare chest, snoring softly. His little body wrecked with coughs.

Felicity leans against the door frame, her head tilted to the side as she takes them in, “so many non-platonic thoughts.”

Oliver smiles at her in greeting, not bothering to move from his spot, “He finally kept down the pedialyte, and I think he cried himself to sleep.”

Felicity frowns as she crawls into bed, her eyes focused on Lucas, “This is the part of parenting I don’t like. The books did not prepare me for the gut wrenching pain of seeing  _ him _ in pain.”

“I don’t think anyone could accurately describe it,” Oliver agrees, “it makes me understand my mother a little bit more, though.”

“Me too.” Felicity shivers at the thought, and Oliver grins at her reaction.

“Your mother can’t be  _ that _ bad,” Oliver protests, “I think it’s impossible for any Smoak woman to have a bad bone in their body.”

Felicity scoffs at his words, “So it’s true what they say, love  _ is _ blind.”

Oliver only smiles at her in return, she’s learning over the past few days that Oliver Queen is a complete sap. “Seriously though, your Mom.”

“What about her?” Felicity asks flippantly, purposely avoiding his unasked question. She takes a bite into her sandwich and sighs at the look Oliver gives her. “I’ll tell her about you and Lucas... _ eventually _ I prefer to not bring Donna Smoak into our little bubble,  _ yet _ .”

“Our little bubble that includes Diggle,  _ my _ mother, sister and  _ Roy _ ?” Oliver counters. Luckily he seems more amused at her hesitances than offended, which is good but her mother learning she’s now a  _ grandmother _ is just not a conversation Felicity is ready to have.

“Touche.” Felicity replies. She finishes the last of her sandwich and looks down at Lucas affectionately, “She’ll love him.”

“Of course she will,” Oliver says easily, he pauses and looks at her concern, “You don’t have to tell her if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to. She deserves to know, I want her to know.” Felicity promises, she runs her fingers through Lucas’ hair, frowning at the feel of his warm skin, “I’ll wait till after he gets better. Poor kid already has the cold, no need for him to suffer through Donna Smoak  _ while _ sick.”

“I can’t wait to meet your mother,” Oliver declares, far too happy at the prospect.

The scary part is Felicity is almost certain her mother will love Oliver just as much as she does. 

* * *

“I love you!” Felicity declares tiredly as Oliver offers her the large cup of coffee and they trade, their crying son for the coffee.

It’s almost three in the morning, and neither she nor Oliver have slept and poor Lucas only has restless naps. While lack of sleep is not new to either of them, given their regular night time activities, taking care of a sick toddler, has been draining on both of them.

Not to mention being unable to comfort their son is disconcerning to say the least.

Oliver bounces a whimpering Lucas in his arms as he paces the living room. He’s only in his sweatpants and Lucas is also in just his diaper, the toddler rubs his runny nose against Oliver’s chest and then cries out in protest.

“I don’t think the humidifier is working,” Oliver says with a sigh. He looks at Lucas’ red nose and frowns. They have been using one of the little suction bulbs ever so often but Lucas is still breathing through his mouth heavily. 

Felicity frowns in thought drinking the last of her coffee. She gets to her feet, and takes Oliver by the hand pulling him towards the bathroom.

“I thought we were gonna wait till the morning to give him a bath?” Oliver asks with a frown watching her curiously as she turns the shower in the highest and pulls then the shower curtain back all the way.

“Hopefully the steam will help,” Felicity explains she takes a step towards him and holds out her arms for Lucas and the toddler quickly moves to her. He hooks his hand in the V of her t-shirt and nuzzles her chest again. 

She cradles him against her chest, holding him like a newborn and gentle rocks him from side to side. “Mommy’s got you, buddy,”

Lucas only whimpers softly and buries his head deeper in the crook of her arm. He takes a deep breath and then coughs a few times before he starts to cry again.

“I hate this. I hate seeing him like this,” Oliver whispers to her. He runs his fingers through Lucas damp hair and sighs softly, “he isn’t warm anymore, that’s good.” 

“Can you get some more of the pedialyte? Maybe that will help settle him and get him back to sleep?” Felicity asks as she shifts Lucas into and upright position, the toddler sighing softly against her chest. 

Oliver nods and once he closes the bathroom door behind him Felicity begins to pace the small confines of the room. She hums softly as she rocks him gently and quietly begins to sing one of Lucas’s favourite lullabies.

Lucas smiles up at her sleepily his little hand raising to touch her cheek before his eyes flutter closed. She hears movement behind her and sees Oliver leaning against the door frame, baby bottle in his hand while he watches them his eyes soft.

“Hey,” Felicity calls out holding back a yawn, “I finally got him to settle down.”

“Great. Come to bed, Felicity,” Oliver cajoles sleepily. He takes two strides towards them, and reaches behind Felicity to turn off the shower. He rubs her back soothingly and ushers her out of the room.

They silently make their way to the bedroom, Oliver taking a sleeping Lucas from Felicity and placing the toddler in the centre of the bed before they both crawl in next to him. Oliver leans over the sleeping toddler to press a soft kiss against Felicity’s lips, her eyes already fluttered closed, “Love you.”

Felicity murmurs a soft response just before she succumbs to exhaustion.

* * *

“Mama! Mama! Mama!” 

Felicity wakes to little hands slapping her stomach repeatedly, and familiar sweet voice calling out for her. Her eyes flutter open and she sees Lucas staring down at her with bright blue eyes, and her heart warms. His nose is runny and red, but his eyes are much brighter than they were the night before. “Hey baby boy!”

“Mama!” Lucas cheers and dropping his body onto hers, and Felicity can’t help but laugh hugging him tightly to her, until Lucas gets tired and starts pushing at her shoulders to let him go. She reaches up and wipes his nose with her fingers, laughing at the way he grumbles at her in displeasure.

She grabs some nearby baby wipes to wipe his face clean and then her hands and laughs at his disgruntled expression, never before so glad to see his little face full of so much expression.

“Well someone is feeling better,” Oliver greets as he walks into the room a bowl of fruit in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

“Da!” Lucas bounces on the bed as he cheers for his father.

“Hey buddy, I brought bananas,” Oliver greets as he places the bowl in Lucas’ lap and ruffles his hair. He cups the toddler’s cheeks and smiles no doubt grateful that he’s no longer warm to the touch.

“Nana!” Lucas chirps before he shoves his hand into the bowl squishing the bananas with a loud giggle.

Oliver shakes his head and then turns to Felicity with a smile. He hands her the cup of coffee and leans forward to kiss her, “good morning, I see someone is feeling better.”

Felicity hums and kisses him soundly, her fingers digging into his shoulder keeping him in place a little longer. 

“Hi,” Felicity chirps, she glances at Lucas and laughs, “he seems like his old self. Do all kids just bounce back from the cold like that? It’s barely been 12 hours.”

“I don’t know, but let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth,” Oliver says thoughtfully as he crawls into bed next to her. “We both know this won’t be the last time he’s sick.”

“We survived the first time though. So yay team parents!” Felicity cheers raising her hand to him for a high five. Oliver laughs and gentle slaps his hand against hers.

“Aye!” Lucas cheers on seeing them high five and he raises both sticky hands towards them. There is bananas and snot running down his face.

Both Oliver and Felicity laugh but indulge their son with high fives nonetheless.

The sound of the doorbell ringing pulls family of three from their quiet moment. 

“It’s probably Thea, I know she wanted to check on him,” Oliver says already moving to get off the bed but Felicity stops him with a hand to his waist.

“You clean up the monkey, I’ll get the door.”

She’s forgoes her slippers and makes a beeline to the living room and smiles when she hears Lucas babbling excitedly to Oliver.

When she opens the door though she stops short when Thea Queen is  _ not _ on the other side of the door.

“Felicity Megan Smoak! You had a _baby_ and did not tell me?”


	12. Chapter 12

“Mom? What are you doing here?” Felicity stutters out in surprise as Donna Smoak bulldozes her way into the living room long blonde hair flowing behind her.

“A  _ baby, _ Felicity?” Donna practically screeches, “I get a call from Starling City telling me my daughter had an allergic reaction, but not to worry that she and my  _ grandson  _ were fine. Explain Felicity!”

“Mom…”

“Bee!” Lucas small voice calls out excitedly.

Both Felicity and Donna turn around at the sound, Donna gasping as Lucas reaches for her excitedly, “Bee! Bee!”

“Oh my,” Donna gasps out. She abandons her suitcase and makes a beeline for Lucas opening her arms to him and soon as she is within reach Lucas jumps eagerly into her arms, babbling excitedly. “Oh my. I feel like I’m back in the 90s. Oh hello monkey, oh my god  _ Felicity _ . How could you keep the fact that you had a  _ baby _ from me? For so long?”

“Mom, no it’s not like that. This is Lucas. He’s Oliver’s son.” Felicity emphasizes, at Oliver’s put out expression, she quickly explains, “and my son.”

“Felicity, you just said you did not have a baby. Explain.” Donna insists, but her focus is still on the baby and she gasps out at Lucas who giggles in return, the toddler patting her face eagerly, in  _ recognition _ . Which is just  _ insane. _

“He’s Oliver’s son, but we’re raising him together,” Felicity explains. She takes a step towards Oliver and wraps her arms around his waist, her meaning clear, “Mom, this is Oliver.”

“Da!” Lucas chirps breaking the tensions. He then turns to Donna and smiles, “Bee! Bee! Da!”

“Oh you told him about me,” Donna gasps emotionally her eyes filling with tears, “Yea, I’m your Bubbe! Oh, Felicity, he looks just like you did as a baby.”

Felicity huffs out in exasperation as Lucas calls out to Donna again. There is no explanation as to how Lucas knows to call her that, but it’s certainly not  _ that, “ _ that’s not possible Mom. For so many reasons. Oliver’s Mom said Lucas looks exactly like Oliver as a baby.”

“Oh, he’s got the Smoak freckles,” Donna says in delight pressing her manicured finger against Lucas nose earning small giggles in response. It’s obvious she is choosing to not listen to Felicity.

Felicity rolls her eyes and looks across at Oliver apologetically but she pauses at the thoughtful look on his face as he looks at Lucas and Donna. “Oliver?”

Oliver starts and smiles, but it’s a smile she has not seen for weeks, he’s hiding something from her. “Ms. Smoak it’s nice to finally meet you,”

“Oh no call me Donna, I’m way too young to be called  _ miss  _ anything,” her mother huffs, she then looks down at Lucas and giggles, “although I guess I’m old enough to be someone’s Bubbe, uh Lucas? Oh Felicity! Lucas! Like your Great Grampie Lou! You loved him so much.”

“Oh,” Felicity startles at her words, she had forgotten about her great grandpa Lou. She  _ did _ idolize him growing up. 

Donna turns her focus back to Lucas and gasps dramatically at his babbles. The two continue almost as though they are having their own conversation, her mother is a natural with Lucas as expected. She toes off her heels and makes a beeline for the pile of toys in the corner of the living completely ignoring Oliver and Felicity. Lucas also doesn’t even spare them a glance.

“Hey, you okay?” Felicity calls out softly, grasping Oliver by the arm. She gestures to her mother, “sorry about that, she can be a bit much. Our poor son.”

Oliver huffs out a small laugh at her comment as she was expecting and he looks back at her and smiles, “no your Mom’s great. She adores Lucas, clearly.”

They both look across at the pair and laugh at Lucas trying to give Donna every single one of his toys from the chest of toys. Her mom cheers each time like Lucas is giving her the key to the universe.

“It’s mutual,” Felicity says with a laugh when Lucas calls out to Donna, “how does he even  _ know _ her?”

“You two look alike?” Oliver answers weakly and Felicity knows he’s been thinking about it as well

“It’s more than that. It doesn’t make sense. He just seems to  _ know _ things. Are you sure you can’t remember  _ anything _ about the mother? She had to have been blonde? Maybe she looked like me? Not that I’m implying you...we barely knew each other back then and…”

“Felicity, I don’t know who it is! We’ve been over this, I’m not proud of my actions when I first came home and I can’t remember!” Oliver growls his voice low mindful of their son and her mother a few feet away. 

“Why is it after everything we’ve been through. Everything we are currently going through, you still can’t trust me?” Felicity asks him tiredly. She doesn’t wait for a response but instead makes her way to her mother and Lucas plastering a smile on her face.

“Mama!” Lucas cheers on seeing her and abandons his toy to crawl towards her. This time Felicity’s smile is genuine.

“Everything okay?” Donna asks glancing back at Oliver who is now busy in the kitchen.

“Yea, everything is still new and we just have some stuff to figure out,” Felicity explains.

Her mother only hums in response, and instead focuses on Lucas who looks at her and sends her a toothy smile, “it’s like I’m looking into my past. I just can’t get over how much he looks like you. You use to be this round little blonde thing that was always smiling. Such a happy little baby,”

“Sometimes, he looks at me or something and I feel like I’m looking in a mirror,” Felicity confesses in a rush, “it’s impossible. I know it is, but I think it anyway,”

“And you and Oliver have never…”

“Mom, I’d remember if I had a baby,” Felicity says in exasperation. She would certainly remember if she had sex with Oliver, not that she would voice  _ that _ to her mother. The entire conversation is ridiculous, she can only hope that in the future she has an impact on Lucas in more ways than genetics could.

“It’s just a very special coincidence, you two were clearly meant to find each other,” Donna says thoughtfully, she looks at Lucas again and sighs happily, “I’m so proud of you, honey. It takes a strong woman to decide to raise another woman’s child. Not that I’m surprised, no, my baby girl is as strong as they come,”

“ _ Mom _ ,” Felicity groans her cheeks pinking up in embarrassment as her mother’s praises, but a small part of her realizes she needed to hear that. These past few weeks have been a whirlwind, and so many times she’s doubted her decision and wondered if she was in over her head.

“Ladies, breakfast is ready.” Oliver suddenly calls out a two trays in his hands as he makes his way to the dining room table, “I hope you did not eat on the flight, Donna,”

“Just bad airport coffee,” Donna replies sweetly to Oliver, she then turns to Felicity and slaps Felicity on the arm, “he looks  _ that _ good  _ and _ he can cook? Honey you need to lock that in and put a ring on him,”

“Mom!” Felicity hisses horrified glancing at Oliver, she can see his bare shoulders shaking slightly and she  _ knows _ he heard her.

God damn her mother. She’s not  _ wrong  _ but Oliver did not need to hear that.

“I know your Bubbe is just silly, isn’t she?” Felicity says conversationally to Lucas who waves at her from in Donna’s arms, her mother already taking it upon herself to take Lucas.

“Bubbe,” Donna says happily as she places Lucas in his high chair, “I love it,”

* * *

“You’re worrying too much,” Oliver says soothingly as he rubs Felicity’s shoulders, “your mother is great with him and Lucas adores her.”

“I just don’t think letting her run wild with him for the day is a good idea,” Felicity says her teeth sinking into her bottom lip with worry.

“She’s taking him to the park then the strip mall, it’s hardly running wild and Diggle is with them, if anything happens he’ll let us know,” Oliver reasons as he ushers her into QC main elevators.

“Of course he’s safe with her. I’m just worried about the state our son will be in when she finally brings him back,” Felicity says with a sigh. “She’s gonna make those tiny suits and sailor outfits Thea and your Mom picked out for him look like child’s play. Oh god, she better not cut his hair.”

Felicity quickly pulls out her phone and starts typing away rapidly on the screen. Oliver sighs and the moment the elevator door closes he holds his breath and swipes Felicity’s phone from her grasp. The look she gives almost makes him regret his decision, but he sticks to his guns and slips the phone in his pocket. 

“Lucas will be fine. Your mother although slightly enthusiastic, knows he’s not feeling his best so she will not overdo it. She said it herself, if he’s tired she’ll just take him back home, relax.” Oliver says soothingly, proud of himself for not caving and giving her back her phone despite the fact that she is currently glaring up at him.

“You took my phone.” Okay, so maybe he has some regrets.

“Yes, because you’re spiraling,” Oliver replies easily, he fixes his tie just before the elevator door opens and ushers her out and towards his office.

Felicity huffs sending him and unimpressed glare, but Oliver holds his ground and does not relinquish his hold on her phone. 

“Sit, start up your computer. I’ll get you a cup of coffee?” He offers as he pulls out her chair for her.

“I want back my phone.” Despite the curt tone she takes a seat nonetheless.

This time he listens to his instincts and plucks his phone from his pocket and places it in her open hand. He leans down and presses a kiss to her cheek, “Coffee and relax.”

“Your stupid charming face is not going to work this time,” Felicity grumbles but despite her words she goes about doing exactly what he suggests which is a miracle on its own. 

Oliver bites back his smirk before he makes his way out of the office and to the closest kitchen, knowing fully well she will be on her phone sending her mother warning texts.

When he gets back to their offices Felicity is no longer at her desk but sitting in front of  _ his _ , typing away as if it’s her own. He’s pretty sure she would do a better job at that desk then he ever would.

“Oliver, I sent you these reports to read and sign three weeks ago!” Felicity says exasperation as he walks in, “I inserted your signature into the proposal for the expansion of applied science Audrey Becker has an excellent vision and I think she will do well.”

“Okay,” Oliver says easily as he places the coffee mug in front of her. He leans against the table and watched her thoughtfully as she types away at his laptop. 

“Are you going to even ask  _ what _ the proposal is about?” She leans back on the chair now cradling her cup of coffee and inhaling the aroma.

“Nope, I trust you,” Oliver says easily. He uses raising his leg and gently runs the tip of his shoe along her bare calf and watches in amusement as she coughs in surprise.

He expects some kind of resistance, but Felicity only smirks at him from behind her mug. It’s his turn to cough when he feels Felicity’s heel slowly move under his pants’ leg.

Oliver growls in return and grabs her by the elbow pulling her to her feet and between his parted legs. She giggles at the sudden movement her coffee mug still clutched to her chest. She flutters her eyes at him and presses her body closer to him, he can feel the heat radiating off of her. Oliver places his hand on her hips, his finger flexing at the curve of her hip.

“You know, I had  _ many  _ office fantasies starting out  _ exactly _ like this,” Felicity practically purrs, the tip of her pinky hooking on the lapel of his shirt.

“ _ Felicity,”  _ Oliver growls, not expecting her to be so forward. He moves his hand down her back until he is cupping the curve of her ass. Her soft moans of approval going straight to his groin.

They shouldn’t be doing this. It’s the middle of the day anyone could walk by and see straight into his office. Besides that, there are things he needs to discuss with her. His concerns about Lucas about the fact that the only women he’s been with since the island can’t  _ possibly _ be the biological mother. In fact the  _ only _ person that seems to fit that description is  _ Felicity _ .

Which is ridiculous seeing as Oliver has yet to see her naked, much less have his  _ child.  _ He’s losing his mind over this.

“We really should  _ not _ be doing this here,” Felicity whispers, but despite her words she’s since lost her coffee mug, her small fingers have slipped under the lapels of his jacket to tug lightly on his suspenders just as she rises on her toes to place a soft kiss on his lips. 

Oliver groans, all thoughts about Lucas and his parentage slipping his mind the moment Felicity’s tongue slips between his lips.

He’s just about to spin them around and put her on his table throwing protocol out the window when Felicity’s phone suddenly chimes loudly. 

Felicity frowns and leans across him to check her phone, “my mother is video calling us, I didn’t even know she could do that.”

She shakes her head and spins around so she’s sitting on his lap and they are both facing the camera. However, when the call connects instead of Donna’s face they are greeted by a rosy cheek Lucas who is smiling cheekily at his reflection, but on seeing his parents the toddler brightens even more, “Mama!”

“Hi, baby!” Felicity greets their son with a laugh, “did you steal Bubbe’s phone?” 

“Oh, Felicity! I was trying to call you but I think Lucas pressed the little camera button,” Donna’s voice is slightly muffled and they can see Lucas’ chubby hand trying to swipe for the phone. 

After a few short protests from their son and violent shakes from the camera, Donna finally comes into view Lucas nowhere to be found, “hi honey! I hope we aren’t interrupting you at work. We wanted to let you know that we sent Mr. Diggle home for the day.”

Felicity frowns as the camera shakes again and she huffs when she realizes her mother is looking at her reflection in the phone, as she fixes her hair. Lucas is nowhere in sight but they can hear him babbling excited off camera, “Mom, this isn’t your vanity mirror! Where is Lucas?”

“Oh! I ran into someone today, turns out we have someone in common,” Felicity’s mother replies cheekily and Oliver can tell that she’s starting to get agitated. He places a hand on her hip hoping to calm her.

The camera shifts around again and to their surprise Moira appears holding Lucas. Lucas smiling happily in his  _ other _ grandmother’s arms as Moira cajoled the toddler to wave at the camera.

“Mom!” Oliver startles in surprise, she was the last person he expected to see with Donna and he can see Felicity is equally surprised  _ and _ horrified. 

After a few seconds all three of them fill the camera screen endless blonde hair and piercing blue eyes staring back at them. Lucas’ resemblance to  _ both _ of his grandmothers is uncanny, and unnerving to say the least.

“I was on my way to the salon, and I saw Lucas, with a strange woman, one look at the blonde hair and suspected she might be your mother, Felicity.” His mother’s voice is pleasant enough but he can see the strain in her smile and Oliver knows she was  _ not _ too pleased to see Lucas with a stranger. Albeit a stranger to her, his mother never one to be out of control of the situation.

“Who knew Starling City was so small?” Donna days with a genuine laugh and thankfully she seems unaware of Moira’s hesitance. “Lucas introduced me to the  _ other _ grandma in his life and we decided we are stealing him for the rest of the day. Get to know each other a bit after all we’re gonna be in each other’s lives for a long long time.”

“Oliver, I heard there was something you and Felicity needed to tell me?” Moira adds. This time her smile is genuine and she’s smirking at both of them.

“See, Moira, I told you they were more than chummy,” Donna chimes in wiggling her eyebrows at the pair, and Felicity groans at her mother’s teasing.

“I think you’re embarrassing them, Donna.” Moira replies with a laugh not at all remorseful for their teasing.

“While you two conspire against us, please remember your grandson has been sick the past 24 hours and if he gets tired take him back home ,” Felicity replies hotly. 

While this is true, Lucas does not even look like he was sick less than 12 hours ago, in fact their son is giggling and laughing and playing with both of his grandmothers clearly loving all the excitement.

Donna only laughs in return as she takes Lucas from Moira the camera also seems to be switching from one hand to another, “See, Moira, I told you they would get snippy about it.”

“Okay, why don’t you two enjoy your day with Lucas, don’t spoil him  _ too _ much and we’ll all have dinner later at our place?” Oliver calls out trying to diffuse the situation.

“That sounds like and excellent idea. I’ll let Thea know that we’re having dinner at yours  _ and  _ Felicity’s place.” 

He walked right into that one. Both their mother’s laugh lightly while Felicity squeaks and purposely says goodbye to Lucas before ending the call.

“They weren’t supposed to get along!” Felicity bemoans throwing her head onto his chest dramatically

Oliver chuckles in amusement rubbing her back soothingly, “would you have preferred they hated each other and fought over Lucas?”

“No but…” she trails off when her phone chimes loudly again. 

His first thought that it’s Donna or his mother, but then he knows that specific sound and he knows that Felicity just got an alert for one of her searches.

Felicity pulls back and looks at him alarm and Oliver is immediately on alert, his fingers clenching at her waist, “what’s wrong?”

As far as he knows things have been pretty slow lately on the Arrow front which has been a blessing, especially with a sick baby. 

Felicity does not answer him, instead she places a hand on his arm while reaching for her phone on his desk. Her front teeth sink into her bottom lip and she bites it nervously as she scrolls through her phone, Oliver nerves skyrocketing by her expression.

“I found Lucas’ mother.” She says her voice full of trepidation and Oliver’s stomach clenches at the realization.

“Who is it?” He asks hoarsely.

“I don’t know; I have just my alerts forwarded to my phone. I’ll have to go to the computers to check. I mean I could hack my own servers to check…”

“I don’t want to know,” Oliver suddenly declares his grip righting on her waist when she tries to step away.

“Oliver,” Felicity protests weakly, “you need to know who she is.  _ Lucas  _ needs to know.”

Oliver shakes his head stubbornly, “I don’t. She gave her right to call Lucas hers when she just abandoned him in the club a few weeks ago and have made zero contact with me since then. No.”

“Oliver, we need to know at least if she’s dead or alive,” Felicity reasons. She runs her fingers through his hair and she rubs his neck soothingly, “you know, we need to know. You need to know.”

“You’re his mother,” Oliver replies stubbornly. He’s being irrational and he knows it. They have set up such a good thing, he does not want another person to get involved and upset this balance. 

For the first time in six years he’s  _ happy _ and he’s getting another chance at raising his kid with the  _ best _ person out there. 

“Oliver…”

“A year before the island...I got a girl pregnant.” Oliver confesses. He can feel the way Felicity’s body tenses at his words, he looks up to see her eyes wide and full of questions as her fingers still on his neck. “Samantha Clayton...she..it was one night she told me she was pregnant but then a week later she said she lost the baby.”

“Oh, Oliver…”

“I thought this was my second chance you know? Do things right. After the island I couldn’t imagine being with someone I could care about, much less raise a family with her...with  _ you _ . I don’t want to know who it is, because I do not want things to change. I want to be selfish for once.”

Everything comes out in a rush, but he feels so much lighter finally telling her what’s been bothering him for weeks now.

“Oliver, nothing is going to change between the two of us,” Felicity says firmly. She cups his face and smiles at him warmly, “you and Lucas are stuck with me, no matter what. I won’t let this woman get in the way of that, providing that neither you  _ nor _ Lucas want that.”

“You’re Lucas’ mother,” Oliver says firmly, punctuating his point with a firm kiss on the lips and she smiles brightly in return.

“So we’ll pass by the foundry after work and check?” Felicity asks him. He can see she’s anxious to know, never one for mysteries in the first place.

“Would you like to go now?” Oliver asks in amusement knowing she might not want to resist.

“Yes, but you have a few meetings and I need at least a few hours to spend doing a background check in the woman. So it’s better to wait,” Felicity confesses with a sigh, she looks at her phone forlorn but slips into her dress pocket.

She presses a kiss to Oliver’s lips and smiles, “now get back to work, Mister.”

“You can check it on your phone now,” Oliver says with a small smile. “You can do the background check later, because I promise you, I don’t know who she...Felicity?”

His smile falters at the way Felicity freezes in his arms, her face is pale as a ghost and if his hands weren’t on her ribs he would have been worried she was no longer breathing. “ _ Felicity _ ?”

She looks up at him, eyes wide, “It’s  _ me _ .”

“What’s you?” Oliver asks confused.

“His mother…. _ Me _ ...I’m Lucas’s mother,”

“Yea we just said that,”

“No, Oliver…” she flips the phone over to show Oliver what she’s staring at. There are some genetic markings and some words he does not understand, but right below in bold letters its obvious. 

**98% genetic match with Felicity Megan Smoak.**

_ Felicity _ is Lucas’ mother.


	13. Chapter 13

“I don’t understand,” Oliver repeats for the third time. Felicity has been uncharacteristically quiet on their way to the foundry. Beyond her demanding they go there so that she can run more tests, she hasn’t said anything. Her phone is clenched in her hands and she still has an unreadable expression on her face as they make their way down the stairs of the foundry. “This makes no sense...we haven’t...we did not…we haven’t even had  _ sex _ yet!”

“I know that, Oliver!” Felicity finally snaps back. He stops on the top of the stairs, startled by the venom in her voice.

He is just as surprised by this revelation as she is, and typically  _ she _ would be the one talking a mile a minute trying to wrap her mind around this news. 

“I’m sorry.” Felicity soft voice pulls him from his thoughts and she’s standing on the stairs, her hand resting on his forearm, “I  _ need _ to run some more genetic tests before I can even  _ begin _ to understand this. Apparently, when they took my blood earlier this week it was put into the hospital database and the searches with Lucas’ DNA finally met a match.  _ My  _ blood.”

“Well that explains why it only matched now, your blood has never been in the system before this and I get why you need to do more tests, I do. But Felicity, I need to know what you’re thinking, cause you’re the brains in this relationship and I can’t fathom how to explain this. And I gotta tell you, you being Lucas’ biological mother seems like the most logical explanation…”

Felicity huffs at his words and rolls her eyes patting his cheek lightly before she spins on her heels and makes her way towards her computer. She doesn’t seem to get that he’s not  _ joking _ which is ridiculous in itself, much like their current situation.

“Oliver, just because it’s what we both want, doesn’t mean it’s gonna magically happen that way,” Felicity points out in exasperation.

“Well, I’m starting to believe in magic,” Oliver quips. His eyes read over the results from Felicity’s search and there are pictures of Felicity and Lucas side by side, the resemblance is  _ uncanny. _

“Stop that,” Felicity huffs slapping his arm, but this time she’s smiling at him in more amusement, as she goes about typing on her computer. Her eyes shift to the screen of her and Lucas face ever so often. “It makes no sense.”

“He doesn’t just  _ look _ like you, Felicity. He acts like you. He has the same allergies you do. He has the same freckles like you do. His mannerism is  _ you _ .” Oliver points out in a rush, all the things he’s noticed in the past few weeks bubbling over. “When we first met him, I thought for sure  _ you _ were more his parent than I was, and that’s not because he chose to call you, Mom. And why is that? It’s like he’s known you, his whole life.”

“That makes no  _ sense _ , Oliver!” Felicity repeats, but there is no bite in her tone, she just seems as confused as he is. “I am Dana Scully.”

“Who?” Oliver asks confused.

“X-Files, Oliver! You were on the island from 2007, you can’t blame that on your lack of knowledge of  _ that _ pop culture reference.” Felicity rolls her eyes in exasperation, but her eyes catch something on one of her computer screens and she pauses staring back and that endless letters and numbers that are completely foreign to Oliver.

She takes a seat on her chair releasing a deep sigh, and Oliver’s first thought is that there was an error, that she’s  _ not _ Lucas’ mother and he hates the way his stomach drops at the thought. “What?”

“There was an error in the previous report,” Felicity says softly, her tone unreadable.

“Oh,” Oliver’s heart clenches.

“99.9% chance that I’m Lucas’ mother.” Felicity’s voice is hoarse as she speaks, “By these results, there is a higher chance I am his mother, verses you being his father.”

“Wait, what?” Oliver’s heart hammers in his chest at  _ that _ revelation.

Felicity looks across at his ashen expression and she gasps in surprise, “Oh no! It was just a joke! Oliver, you’re Lucas’ father. I just got 99.9% and you got 98%. We’re his parents. There is no doubt about it...you know other than the  _ how _ . Just  _ how _ ?”

“You have a theory?” Oliver asks gently. He leans against the table, arms crossed as he looks down at her concern.

“I’ve got, test tube babies...but I’ve never donated my eggs and I’m sure you’ve never donated sperm…  _ Oliver!” _

“I did not donate any sperm!” Oliver protests on seeing her scandalized expression, “When I was 19. I  _ may _ have been, dared to do it...but I chickened out at the last minute.” Oliver remarks sheepishly not too fond of talking about his younger years. 

Felicity though looks absolutely  _ tickled _ at the idea, “We’ll shelf  _ that _ story for another time. For now we have to…”

“Figure out how the hell Lucas came to be,” Oliver remarks, turning his gaze to the picture of Lucas on the computer that’s staring back at them. “I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I,” Felicity murmurs. Her gaze is fixated on Lucas’s little face, and Oliver can see her lower lip begins to wobble and her eyes fill with tears, “I  _ am _ his mother.”

“You are,” Oliver confirms softly. He reaches for her hand and she rises to her feet and into his arms in a heartbeat, barely able to stifle a sob, “Hey, what’s wrong? I thought this was what we wanted? What  _ you _ wanted?”

“It is,” Felicity chokes out. She pulls back and looks at Oliver broken, “We missed so much of his life, Oliver. So many of his firsts, his  _ birth _ , how, who. Where did he come from? How is he ours, and why did we miss out on the first  _ year _ of his life?  _ Nothing _ makes sense anymore.”

But, Felicity is Lucas’ mother and to Oliver that’s the  _ only _ thing that does make sense to him.

Knowing that she is Lucas’ mother in every way that counts is such a relief. They don’t have to worry about a third party coming between them or their son.

Felicity is Lucas’s  _ mother. _

* * *

“This makes no sense,” Felicity mutters again, her eyes trained on the image of Lucas staring back at her. 

She ran a few more extensive tests, and every one comes to the same conclusion. She is Lucas’ mother.

Her chunky, dimple face smiling boy is her  _ son _ . He is her’s in every single way imaginable, every way she had hoped since meeting him.

She just does not understand  _ how _ he came to be. As a woman of science, there are only a few options and they are more implausible than the next. Until meeting Oliver her life has always been pretty mundane, but this something out of this world. 

She should be fixating on the  _ how of  _ her son’s existence. 

Except, Lucas is  _ her _ son. 

And that is  _ all _ she can focus on. 

He is  _ hers _ (Oliver’s too, obviously) but he is  _ all _ hers. She does not have to share him with anyone (again, obviously Oliver factors into this)  _ but _ ever since she decided to be Lucas’ mother she always worried about the woman that raised him the first 10 months of his life. If she would ever come crashing back into their lives and demand to see  _ Felicity’s _ son. 

But now, now she can be selfish and say that Lucas is  _ all  _ hers.

“Hey, talk to me,” Oliver’s soft voice calls out to her pulling her from her thoughts. She looks up to see Oliver staring back at her with concern.

“Lucas is my son,” she says to him her voice filled with awe. Oliver grins and takes her hand, “yea, he is.”

“It’s crazy.”

“ _ Insane _ .” Oliver agrees, but despite their worries, they are both grinning widely at each other.

“I don’t feel like I’m more of his mother,” She clarifies to him, ‘cause the truth is she accepted her role in Lucas’ life long before these results came in. “But at the same time…”

“It’s nice to know you are his  _ only _ mother,” Oliver offers knowingly, clearly thinking along the same lines as she is.

“ _ Yea.” _

“Okay, so I brought your son. You two mind telling me why Felicity’s mother seems to think you two are holed up in your apartment and should not be disturbed?” Diggle greets, Lucas in his arms as they walk down the stairs to the foundry. “I’ve been told Lucas needs a sister. She almost did not give me the kid. The free spa treatment worked though.”

“Of course she said that,” Felicity rolls her eyes making a beeline for her son, “Hi, my baby boy!”

“Ma!” Lucas cheers leaning forward and pressing a kiss on Felicity’s lips. He has been copying Oliver’s greeting to Felicity and it’s the cutest thing Felicity has ever seen.

“John, Felicity and I have news to share with you,” Oliver says taking a step towards Felicity and Lucas and putting his arm around her waist, his meaning clear and their friend breaks out into a wide smile.

“You two  _ finally _ talked! I’m happy for you both.”

“ _ And _ , Felicity is Lucas’ mother,” Oliver continues exchanging a grin with Felicity.

“Yes, you guys told me this before,”

“No, John  _ I am _ Lucas’ mother.” Felicity gestures to the computer screen and she sees her friend’s face pales on reading the screen.

“Explain that sentence,” Diggle demands, rereading the computer screen, then looking back at the family of three, “I don’t understand you two…”

“Haven’t even had sex  _ yet _ ,” Felicity chimes in.

“Felicity, John did not need to know that,” Oliver grumbles from beside her, pinching her waist gently.

“So what you’re saying is the kid jumped on a baby tardis can came to you?” Diggle quips in exasperation.

“John! I did not know you were a Dr. Who fan! See Oliver, I’m not the only one that…” Felicity trails off when she sees Oliver looking at her expectantly. She shakes her head, “Don’t be ridiculous Oliver,  _ time travel _ . I know I’m the science fiction buff here but come on now.”

“It makes sense, Felicity. How else would Lucas be yours, when you and I have  _ never _ had sex...yet?” Oliver points, and she has to roll her eyes at him adding in the word to ensure they all know it will happen  _ eventually _ . 

“Oliver, don’t be ridiculous. I was kidding. Lyla made me watch Back to the Future this weekend, so it was on my mind. It’s not real,” Diggle says dismissively. He turns to Felicity, “you got to have a reasonable explanation for this right?”

“Still kinda drawing a blank here,” Felicity confesses. She looks at Oliver and can see he is _still _thinking up the possibility of _time_ _travel_ of all things. “Oliver, don’t go there.”

“Can you tell me without a doubt that it’s  _ not _ time travel?” Oliver counters. He leans against the nearest counter, his arms folded as he looks at her seriously, which worries her to say the least. Oliver is the more level headed one between the two. Well for most things, “It’s just I’ve seen things on the island. Things I can’t explain…”

“You’ve met someone that time travels?” Diggle asks skeptically.

“No, just mystical, inhuman things.” Oliver clarifies, but with even more vague answers as always. Felicity can see that John is not impressed in the slightest, which for the record neither is she. Oliver though turns to look at her expectantly, “You’re the scientist, is it completely out of the realm of possibility?”

Felicity is about to protest, but stops short when she really thinks about his question, “ _ Well _ Dr. Harrison Wells in Central City is currently building a particle accelerator which in theory is supposed to allow you to move through space and time. So  _ technically…” _

“Oh come on Felicity, you can’t be serious.” Diggle interrupts looking at her like she’s crazy. 

Which,  _ rude _ .

“Do  _ you _ have a reasonable explanation?” Felicity counters. She can’t believe she’s trying to argue  _ time travel _ of all things.

“No!” Lucas suddenly chimes in and claps.

All three adults turn to look at the toddler who grins widely on seeing he has their attention, “No!”

“See Lucas seems to think you’re wrong too,” Felicity says with a laugh, peppering kisses on the toddlers face as he giggles loudly in return.

“So really,  _ time travel _ ? That’s what we’re going with?” Diggle asks skeptically, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t that imply he does  _ not _ belong here?”

_ Oh _ . She never really thought time travel was a legit explanation, even more so the idea of Lucas  _ leaving _ that is unacceptable to her.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” Oliver soft voice calls out, pulling her from her dangerous thoughts, she looks up to see him staring down at her, “We’ll figure it out… well  _ you _ will but it’s gonna be okay. He’s not going anywhere.”

He leans forward to press a kiss on her forehead but Lucas, who is still in Felicity’s arms growls angrily in protest. “No! Dada No!”

The toddler pushes him away and glares at Oliver angrily. Diggle snorts in amusement, “Did he just…”

“He hates it when Oliver kisses me,” Felicity explains with a sheepish grin, kissing Lucas on the cheek and the toddler preens at the affection.

Oliver only rolls his eyes and ruffles the toddler’s hair. Lucas still watching his father suspiciously. Diggle laughs again and claps Oliver on the shoulder, “Sorry, man, I guess you aren’t gonna have sex for the next 18 years. Speaking of,  _ that _ ? Completely off limits inside of the Arrow cave.”

“We don’t call it that,” Oliver grumbles, completely ignoring Diggle’s other comment.

“Okay! We’re losing sight of the conversation here,” Felicity calls out before they continue, “Lucas is mine and Oliver’s son. We need to figure out  _ how _ he came to be, if it’s not time travel I still have a more extensive search running, looking for the hospital he was born.”

“So we’re assuming surrogate then?” Diggle asks, “Are we wondering  _ how _ they got your…”

“Oliver never donated sperm, although he was dared to,” Felicity offers with a grin.

At those words Diggle spins around to look at Oliver incredulous, Oliver only huffs and dismisses Diggle with a wave of his hand, “Can we focus here?”

Diggle looks as though he wants to ask more but Felicity gives him a look and he nods, “So, we’re waiting till these searches turn up and then…”

“Then we go from there. This stays with the three of us,” Oliver says seriously. 

Lucas presence although a blessing does not add up, they all know something does not make sense with how he came to be it can’t be a  _ good _ thing. The more she thinks about it the more she worries about the  _ how _ of their son’s existence.

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Oliver voices call out to her, pulling her from her thoughts yet again.

“I just worry,” Felicity confesses, almost afraid to voice her concerns as to make it more real.

“I know, but it’s nothing we can’t handle,” Oliver promises pressing a kiss to her forehead, but then huffs when Lucas groans loudly in protest.

“Like father, like son.” Diggle quips in amusement, he glances at his watch then looks back that them questioningly, “I’m gonna meet up with Lyla. You’ll call me as soon as you get any more news?”

“Yes, thanks for dropping him off for us, John.” Felicity says pressing a kiss to Lucas’ cheek.

“Oh, before I forget, your mothers said to be at the mansion for 6 o’clock for dinner, and don’t be late,” Diggle says waving at them a smile on his face, “Good luck with that, those two seem to be getting along well.”

“Oh god I forgot about the dinner,” Felicity bemoans as their friend heads to the exit. She looks across at Oliver forlorn, “Do you think we could tell them that Lucas still isn’t feeling that well? Oh, God, no how could I say that about our son? I am calling an illness on him just to get away from our mothers.”

“Hey, relax, you’re spiraling,” Oliver calls out soothingly. He places both hands on her shoulders and begins to massage them slowly, they both laugh when Lucas watches him curiously for a second before he takes his little hand and starts to pat Felicity’s shoulder. “See, even Lucas wants to help you relax. Don’t worry, it’s gonna be fine, and they are gonna be too busy fawning over Lucas to even worry about us anyway.”

“ _ That _ , I don’t feel as guilty about,” Felicity giggles, tilting her head back to kiss Oliver.

“ _ No!’” _

“Yea, I don’t feel  _ that _ guilty about it, either.”

“ _ Oliver!” _

* * *

“Are you afraid they will pinch or kiss his cheeks off?” Thea asks her nose wrinkling as she watches both her mother and Donna fawn over Lucas, who seems to be enjoying all the attention, bright pink lipstick all over his face.

“He seems to be enjoying himself,” Felicity points out her teeth sinking into her bottom lip with worry.

Lucas’ laughter ringing throughout the sitting area. He’s crawling from one grandmother to the other, clearly enjoying all the attention they are both giving him. He stops to smile at their phones, waves when asks and right now they are trying to get him to call Moira ‘Gram’ but no success as yet. 

“He’s a trooper, that's for sure,” Thea remarks in amusement.

“Clearly gets the patience from Oliver, ‘cause I never had that with my mother. Still don’t actually,” Felicity quips with a laugh.

“Oh! I think he’s gonna walk!” Thea calls out excitedly. All the adults watch with bated breath as Lucas places his hands on the floor and pushes himself to a standing position, after two seconds though he falls to the floor and then immediately starts to crawl towards Moira his little bottom sticking up in the air.

“So much for that.” Thea says with a disappointed sigh.

Felicity chuckles lightly, equally disappointed but not so much Lucas will do it in his own time, “He has no patience to try it. He just wants to get where he wants to go, and crawling he’s mastered.”

“That sounds familiar,” Donna chimes in with a grin, she pulls Lucas from the floor and peppers kisses all over his face. “You took forever to walk because you were just so annoyed at yourself that you could not do it right away, a stubborn little thing.”

“Stubbornness, definitely runs in this family.” Moira remarks with a knowing smile.

The way both her mother and Oliver’s mother have been getting along, still freaks Felicity out to say the least. Oliver says it’s a good thing, but she’s still waiting for it to implode, after all their mothers are just on different sides of the spectrum.  _ One _ mutual interest won’t change that, even if it is their grandson.

“Ah!” Lucas growls out angrily gaining everyone’s attention. He’s sitting a few feet away with a few blocks trying to slot them into the small hole but his little hands just can’t seem to coordinate the star into the star shame hole. 

“Oh! Moira look! It’s just like that baby picture of Felicity I showed you,” Donna says excitedly as she points to Lucas, who is far more focused on his set of blocks than the adults.

“Oh my you’re right, the resemblance is uncanny,” Moira says thoughtfully. She glances at Lucas then Felicity, her mind clearly whirling and Felicity worries what conclusion she could be coming too.

“You have baby pictures of Felicity?” Thea asks eagerly, moving to sit next to Donna. “I wanna see.”

“Mom, why are you walking around with my baby pictures,” Felicity bemoans, just as Oliver comes into the sitting room with a tray of drinks, including Lucas’ Spiderman sippy cup which looks so out of place next to the wine glasses and tumbler of drinks.

“Baby pictures?” Oliver asks eagerly. He moves to the other side of the couch and looks at Donna in anticipation, everyone ignoring Felicity’s protest.

Donny only grins and pulls out her phone, the very first picture is one of Felicity at 3 with curly blonde hair little face focused on a toy that’s almost completely out of the frame of the picture. “This was before her blonde hair started to turn brown. By the time she was four she had a head of light brown hair. My mother was the same way.”

“Oh her forehead is all wrinkled just like Lucas gets,” Thea says in delight.

“Amazing,” Moira remarks, but her tone is anything  _ but _ . Felicity can feel the older woman’s stare at her, but she refuses to look at her, afraid she may give herself away, they can’t explain how Lucas is her son, there is no way they can explain it to Oliver’s mother.

“Look at this one from Felicity’s first birthday,” Donna says excitedly as she presses down on the phone screen and swipes dramatically to the left.

“Mom, you don’t need to press the screen that hard,” Felicity says her cheeks pinking up at the image of her rosy cheek face covered in chocolate cake. She has to admit the picture really is a splitting image of Lucas, before she would have chalked it up as just her imagination but now she knows it’s because he’s  _ hers _ .

“Mi-ah!” Lucas suddenly chimes out as he grabs the phone. He’s leaning against Donna’s legs his little hands gripping the phone tightly, “Mi-ah!”

“That’s not you, monkey. That’s your Mommy.” Donna says with a laugh. She goes to grab the phone but Lucas holds the phone tight to his chest, “Mama, Mi-ah!”

He looks at Felicity and smiles holding out the phone to Felicity, “Mi-ah!”

Felicity glances at the screen and sees the previous picture of her three year old self. “Oh no baby, that’s me.”

Lucas wrinkles his nose and slaps his hand on the screen, “Mi-ah! Mi-ah! Mi-ah!”

“I don’t know what he’s trying to say,” Thea says with confusion. 

Lucas burst out in tears and throws himself at Felicity still murmuring the same word.

“It sounds like he’s saying Mia,” Donna says thoughtfully, she picks up the phone and looks at the picture of toddler Felicity, “Maybe it’s someone he knows? You said that he only came into all your lives a month ago. Maybe it’s someone he used to know?”

“Hey, didn’t Grandma Eleanor use to call you Mia, Mom?” Thea asks thoughtfully

Felicity looks across at Oliver with concern, as Lucas’ cries get louder, as much as she would like to get down to the mystery that is their son. Right now their son is clearly exhausted and the fact that he was running a fever not even 24 hours is making itself incredibly clear.

“Okay, ladies. I think we’re gonna cut this night short. Lucas just hasn’t been feeling his best. We should probably head home,” Oliver says thoughtfully rising to his feet and moving to take Lucas from Felicity.

“Oh yes. I hope you feel better baby boy,” Moira soothes pressing a kiss to Lucas forehead, the baby only crying louder.

“Yes, Bubbe will miss you, but I’ll see you tomorrow, monkey.” Donna chimes, she kisses Lucas cheek leaving another lipstick stain on his face.

“You’re not coming with? Where are you going to stay?” Felicity asks with concern. She completely forgot they needed somewhere for her mother to stay.

“Oh its fine dear. We have enough rooms in this big old place for your mother. We had Mr. Diggle drop of her suitcase earlier today. You two just take care of our grandson and we’ll see you in the morning.” Moira promises.

They clearly are living in some alternate reality, Felicity can see Oliver is highly amused at the turn of events. There has been far too many revelations today for Felicity to worry about their mothers getting along.

“Thanks Mom, we’ll see you for breakfast in the morning,” Oliver promises kissing his mother cheek.

He walks up to Felicity and rubs her back, “Ready to head out?”

Felicity nods, and bids farewell to their mothers and Thea. 

Almost an hour later, they are walking along the corridor of Felicity's building and Lucas is still whimpering in her arms, “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“Mi-ah,” Lucas whimpers again, rubbing his face in Felicity’s shoulder. 

“Buddy, it’s gonna be okay,” Oliver soothes. He looks at Felicity helplessly as he unlocks the front door, “I just don’t understand what he…”

“It’s about damn time!” They both freeze at the sound of the all too familiar voice.

“Lou-Lou! See, Mommy, I tolds you I finds him!”

“Mi-ah!”


	14. Chapter 14

_ Spring 2023 _

“What do you mean you, you  _ sent _ him away?” Felicity asks trying and failing to keep her voice steady as she looks down at her nonchalant three year old.

“Him stinky, so I sent him  _ poof _ . Like the movies, Mama!” Mia says animatedly. She sends Felicity a smile then spins on her seat and goes back to her tea party.

“ _ Mia _ ,” Oliver steps in placing a hand on Felicity, who is turning red by the second. He kneels next to their daughter and gently spins her so she’s facing him, “Where did you  _ put _ your brother? Mommy and I are very worried and we can’t find him.”

Mia sighs dramatically in exasperation, “I tolds you Daddy. Him went  _ poof.  _ Why you no listen?”

“For the love of…” Oliver grabs Felicity’s hand stopping her mid sentence, her patience wearing thin. 

“Mia, honey this is not a joke anymore. You need to tell Mommy and Daddy where Lucas is,” Oliver says firmly. He picks her up off the chair ignoring her growl of protests and deposits her onto nearby dinner table so that they are now at eye level. Green eyes stare unblinkingly back at him.

“I nots joking, Daddy!” Mia protests. She looks across at Felicity worriedly, but her mother now has her head buried in one of her tablets, her fingers swiping across the screen rapidly.

“He is not in any part of the house Oliver.” Felicity says tersely, “I told you we needed to put tracking nanites on the kids.”

“Our sixteen year old would think differently on that,” Oliver quips back, but sees immediately it’s the wrong thing to say.

“Yes, but our ten  _ month _ old would be home safe and sound!” Felicity snaps back angrily. She takes a deep breath, and rubs her chest in discomfort, “I need to pump some milk. Speak to your child, because I swear to god her obtuse attitude is all on you.”

With those words she swipes her tablet and stomps off towards the kitchen. Oliver looks Mia whose little lip begins to wobble, “I didnt means to makes her mad,”

“She’s not mad, honey. She’s just worried about Lucas. He’s really little and we need to know where you hid him. Remember we talked about Lucas not being able to do things for himself like you can?” Oliver reasons, sighing when Mia launches herself into his arms and starts to cry.

“I didnt means do anything, Daddy!” Mia hiccups anxiously, “Lucas was smelling stinky so I wanted to sends him to him rooms.” 

“Honey, he’s not in his room though,” Oliver speaks calmly as he caresses her blonde curls, “can you tell me where you put him? He was sleeping in his car seat when Mommy and I left you with him."

“I used Mommy’s watch thingy,” Mia says thoughtfully. She holds out her arms demanding to be put down.

“What watch thingy?” Oliver asks, when he does not help her, she places her hands on his shoulders and use him as leverage to jump off the table. 

“Come, I show you,” Mia beckons him happily as though she was not crying two seconds ago. She takes him by the hand and tugs him along behind her. 

She places a finger on her chin tapping it in deep thought. “This ways,”

She walks out of the dinning room and heads to the playroom she moves around Oliver trailing behind her until she reaches the large princess tent John and Lyla got her for her third birthday. “Come on Daddy,”

Oliver grunts as he gets on his hands and knees and follows her into the tent. When he finally is able to fit his large body inside, he looks at Mia incredulously. She’s sitting on a sleeping bag with one of her dolls in her hand and she holds out a dinosaur, “ Daddy, you be Dino I’ll be Elsa.”

“Mia, honey no. We can’t play now, you were gonna get Mommy’s watch,” Oliver explains patiently as he puts the stuffed toy aside.

Felicity has been working on a lot of various gadgets for her company lately but Oliver is pretty sure there is only  _ one _ device that would actually send their son away and he’s  _ really _ hoping it’s not the watch Mia is referring to. But the lack of presence of their youngest says otherwise.

He  _ really _ hoped it’s not what he thinks it is. He turns to Mia to see she’s now  _ lying  _ on her sleeping bag staring up at the glow in the dark stars on the roof of the tent. “Mia! The watch,”

“Whoopsies. Come Daddy!” she gets on all fours and proceeds to crawl out the tent, Oliver struggling to fit through the kid size hole.

When he finally emerges, Mia is nowhere in sight but Felicity is sitting on the couch, pumping and not looking at all impressed with him. “She told me to tell you she went potty. Are you playing with our three year old or trying to get information from her?”

“She told me she used  _ your _ watch to send him away,” Oliver replies back shortly. He takes the bag from Felicity closing the seal and jotting down the date, while she moves the pump to her other breast, her eyes widening in realization.

“My breaching watch? Oliver if she used that watch he could be on any  _ earth _ .” She moves to stand and scowls when the breast pump pulls her back down. She can’t stop mid pump, “how did she even get that watch? I had in locked away in my office!”

“Well she got it and now we need to find it and get Lucas back,” Oliver remarks sharply. He told her a dozen times she needs to leave the more dangerous gadgets back at Smoak Tech. Mia is far to curious for her own good, it’s how she ended up in 2015 a few months ago.

“Well the good thing is that the watch is still  _ here _ . Unlike last time. So we just need to get it and it should take us to Lucas.” Felicity replies, her voice wobbling and her eyes filling with tears.

Oliver’s frustration immediately melts away immediately. He walks towards her and crouches in front of her, mindful of the contraption still attached to her, “honey it’s okay, if anyone can find our son it’s you.”

Felicity only sniffles in response, “he’s probably so scared and so alone. Oh god, what if he gets out of his seat and crawls away?”

The thought had already crossed his mind, but he did not want to add more to her guilt, “Felicity, we can’t worry about the what ifs. We just need to find that watch and bring him home.”

“ _ Find _ the watch? Where did she put it, Oliver?” Felicity asks in alarm. “She knows she’s not supposed to be in my office much less take things out of it!”

“Okay, let’s calm down. We both know yelling at her is only going to do the  _ opposite _ of what we want,” Oliver reasons.

“Yes, because  _ one _ of us prefers to placate her,” Felicity snaps back. 

He knows she’s worried about Lucas. He knows she’s only lashing out because of that, but her jab at his parenting skills still stings nonetheless.

“I’m sorry,” Felicity says suddenly, “I’m worried about Lucas but I should not take that out on you or Mia.”

“Hey, don’t worry we got this,” Oliver says with conviction.

“Why are you so calm about this?”

“We’ve been through worse. I refuse to believe that after everything we will lose Lucas or any of our children, like this.”

“We’ve been through  _ worse _ . Oliver there are  _ no  _ other earths! The breach wouldn’t have worked because there are no other earths, I’ve been trying to find them, hence the watch but I’ve yet to find any.” Felicity looks at him eagerly. “I know where he is, or  _ when _ , as the case may be.”

“He went to the past as well?” Oliver sighs this is becoming a regular occurrence for their kids and despite knowing about the events. They still can’t seem to prevent them. They just seem to happen out of order.

“This is great, we don’t even need to call Sara. I can use the watch to extrapolate what year he went to and get him back,” a Felicity breathes a sigh in relief as she starts to pack up her breast bump, clearly in a better mood.

Oliver is not so upbeat about the whole thing, their son is still  _ lost  _ in time and it’s just a matter of getting the watch from their mischievous 3 year old. “Now to get Mia to tell us where the watch is.”

“Right,” Felicity says with a sigh, they both know it’s not going to be an easy task, “Mia!”

When she gets no response Felicity sighs, and calls out again, “Mia!”

“I’m coming, Mama!” Comes the snippy reply and Mia walks into the playroom looking at Felicity unimpressed, “Mama, I told you I was pooping. Why you yelling?”

Oliver bites his lip to hold back a snort, he has no clue where she gets these things from, but he knows his wife will  _ not _ be impressed at his amusement.

“Did you need help?” Felicity asks concerned already getting to her feet to usher the toddler back to the bathroom, but Mia shrugs her off.

“I do it myself, Mama! I’m a big girl,” Mia insists. She then turns to Oliver and smiles widely, “Daddy, you play with me now? I washed my hands. See?”

“Baby, where is Mommy’s watch?” Oliver asks calmly.

“Oh yes! I shows you. Come!” Mia beckons taking Oliver’s hand and pulling him out of the playroom.

“I’m going to put this in the dishwasher, and put the milk away,” Felicity calls out to him. The warning in her tone is clear, he  _ needs _ to have that watch when she finds them.

“Less go, Daddy-o!” Mia cheers with a grin pulling Oliver into the corridor and up the stairs to the bedrooms.

This time Oliver does laugh, he watches as her blonde curls bounce each time she hops onto a step with both feet. She stops midway, and peers through the banister. She then grins at him impishly, and before he can stop her, she grips the railing, pulls herself to stand on the railing, and jumps across to hold onto the banister and slithers up and over it with ease. 

When she stands on the landing and peers through the bars down at Oliver she places a finger on her lips, “don’t tell Mama,”

Felicity is going to kill him. He just knows it.

“Do not do that on your own,” Oliver warns, knowing that if he tells her to not do it outright she would do exactly that. They are still working on listening, which he suspects is going to be a never ending battle with their stubborn middle child.

“Duh, Daddy. I only dids it cause I knews you would catch me,” Mia says in exasperation rolling her little eyes at him. 

Oliver bites his lip at her tone, he should be correcting her about it but he also knows they have bigger fish to fry and this is one instance where he knows when to pick his battles.

“Less go, Daddy, less go!” Mia chants as they walk into her bedroom. 

She pulls him to her bed and ushers him to sit. Oliver winces as he bends his knees to lower himself almost to the ground on Mia’s tiny unicorn bed.

He watches as she takes off to her closet and gets on her hands and knees and crawls in. 

Oliver sits on the bed listening carefully as Mia starts talking to herself, grumbling about something, throwing things and then growling out in frustration. If he had any doubt that she was Felicity Smoak’s child - not that he did, he was there for both the conception and the birth- in this moment she is all Felicity. 

A three year old should not be able to argue that eloquently but yet here he is listening to her talk to her stuffed animals that seem to have gotten “lost” in her closet.

It’s not until he’s listening to her argue the merits of putting things back where you found it- the irony also not lost to him- does  _ he  _ remember that he’s not supposed to be listening to his daughter play, but actually getting information from her.

“Mia!” He calls out softly, not wanting to alert Felicity just yet. 

“Yes daddy?” Cause the sweet reply, but slightly confused almost like she  _ forgot  _ he was waiting in her.

“Mommy’s watch?” Oliver calls out in exasperation.

“Oh! I know where it is!” Mia says cheerfully as she comes out of the closet and instead of her jeans and tshirt, she’s now wearing her ballet dress complete with her hoodie and she pulled her purple tutu over the hoodie.

“Mia! Why did you change? You’re suppose to be getting Mommy’s watch!” Oliver says in exasperation, “Mommy is gonna get mad if you lost her watch.”

It’s a low blow using Felicity like that, but he’s getting desperate and this point and he’s slowly beginning to panic that she may have very well lost the watch.

“I didn’t lose it!” Mia huffs out in annoyance her hands on her hips not impressed with Oliver in the slightest. “I know exactly where I put it. Less go!”

She runs out of the room and Oliver has no choice but to follow her, but he stops short when Mia is frozen in the hallways looking at her mother with a sheepish grin, “hi, Mommy! Are you coming on an adventure with me and Daddy?”

“No, but you will take both of us to get Mommy’s watch.” Felicity says firmly as she scoops up Mia into her arms. “I need that watch to get your brother back. We don’t know where he is and he could be hurt and scared. You don’t want Lucas to be scared and alone right?”

It’s also a low blow, but it has the desired effect and Mia frowns with concern, “I didn’t mean to send him away, he just went  _ poof _ through the clouds.”

“I know, baby but he’s really little and he can’t do things on his own like you. We need that watch to get him back,” Felicity reasons, she presses a soft kiss to Mia’s curls and rubs her back soothingly.

“I puts your watch in my house,” Mia admits sheepishly, “Sorry I touches it and sends Lou-Lou away.”

“It’s okay, let’s go get your brother back, okay?” Oliver soothes. 

“Less go Mommy! Less go Daddy Less go!” Mia claps excitedly, clearly over  _ losing  _ her brother. 

She takes the lead and zooms down the stairs ignoring Felicity’s warning as she goes flying over the banister and lands on the floor with ease. Kid took forever to walk but now she jumps from high surfaces like a damn cat. 

“Following the leader, the leader. Following the leader wherever dey may go!” Mia singing loudly and out of tune.

Oliver snorts, but refrains from laughing at the look Felicity is giving him. They are being led around by their three year old and their 10 month old is  _ MIA _ . He  _ needs _ to laugh at this situation, otherwise he will fixate on Lucas’ whereabouts, something he can’t change until they get what they need from their three year old.

Mia does not head to the kitchen that leads to their backyard, instead she moves to the playroom.

“Mia! No detour, we are going to the backyard,” Felicity demands, reaching out for the toddler but she slips out of her mother’s grasp with ease.

Mia spins around and pouts at her mother, “but Mommy I cants go unprepared! I needs my bow! How am I suppose to fight off the bad guys to get the treasures?”

She looks at Felicity incredulously, not believing her mother could even  _ suggest _ otherwise. Oliver smirks watching as Mia jumps from furniture to furniture despite the fact that she could just  _ walk _ to her large chest of drawers. She pulls out the plastic bow in triumphant, she hangs it around her neck, and Oliver makes a mental note to teach her that’s  _ not  _ the best place to keep it. She then takes as many rubber arrows as she can hold in her tiny hands and thrust them towards Oliver with a determined expression.

“Daddy! You be my Quaker!” Mia insists, she takes the bow form around her neck and holds it to her chest and then pulls her hood over her head, “Less go!”

She starts to inch out of the room looking around for ‘bad guys’ and this time Felicity can’t help but giggle. 

Mia though does not take to her mother’s laughter and stops sending her a glare. She places her hand on her chest and sighs deeply, “it’s not a laughing matter, Overwatch! We gotta go!”

With those words she takes off towards the back yard.’

“I have regrets telling her stories about Team Arrow.” Felicity says with a laugh as they quickly follow Mia into the backyard.

Mia goes flying off the patio tumbling to the floor, both Oliver and Felicity wince, but they know from experience she will pick herself up and continue. Mia then cartwheels on one hand, holding out her bow, although it's more like another tumble.

“Daddy, I needs my arrow!” Mia stops short at the foot of the tree house and looks back at Oliver impatiently. “Hurry up!”

“I’m being summoned, Overwatch.” Oliver salutes Felicity and runs after Mia.

“Oliver!” 

He knows that tone, he knows it well. They are wasting precious time entertaining Mia like this. He scoops up Mia and holds her upside down, bow and arrows clattering to the floor, Mia protests loudly, but Oliver turns up right side up so he’s staring back at her green eyes, “Where’s the watch, Mia?”

Mia sighs, clearly knowing the jig’s up, “On my table,”

He does not bother to let her climb up the ladder to the tree house, but instead scales up the ladder with her in his arms. Once they are in the entrance of the tree house, Mia jumps out of this arms and runs off towards one of the side tables that's filled with toys and some snacks. 

Their daughter is such a hoarder.

She runs back to him with Felicity’s watch cradled in her tiny hands. He scoops her up and then jumps down from the ladder, Felicity already making to grab the watch from Mia’s offered hands.

“Thank you, baby.” Felicity says pressing a reassuring kiss to Mia’s forehead before she turns her attention back to the watch.

“I didnts breaks it,” Mia promises in a quiet voice, her little arms around Oliver’s neck as she peers at Felicity expectantly, “Mommy, you finds Lou-Lou right?”

“Hey, don’t worry Mommy is gonna find Lucas and bring him back before we finish dinner,” Oliver promises, the worry in Mia’s voice breaking his heart. 

He look at Felicity, who continues to tinker with her watch. When she punches the air in triumphant Mia cheers loudly, “Booyah!”

Oliver laughs, and kisses her cheek, “See? I told you Mommy’s got it.”

“She’s da bestest!” Mia cheers.

“Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I still need to find him,” Felicity says biting her bottom lip with worry.

“Let me call Will to watch Mia and then we can go,” Oliver says as they make their way into the house, Mia still in his arms.

“What? No I’m not waiting for William to get home from school, Oliver. We have no clue where our 10 month old son ended up. The watch says 2013, do you remember who was running amuck in 2013? I need to get him  _ now.” _

“Is Lou-Lou okay?” Mia asks her voice trembling as she hears the urgency in Felicity’s voice, “Momma, I donts want Lou-Lou to get hurt.” 

“Oh no baby. Lou-Lou is going to be fine. Mommy is gonna get him now while you stay with Daddy, okay?”

She straps the watch onto her wrist, and Oliver reaches out for her, “Felicity, you can’t go on your own. At least let me go…”

“I don’t have time to teach you how to use this Oliver. I’ll be okay. I’ll bring him back I promise,” Felicity says, she raises onto her tip toes and kisses Oliver briefly on the lips, “It’s going to be fine.”

She takes a step back and presses the screen on the watch a few times, she smiles at Oliver warmly, “I love you both.”

A large portal opens in front of her, she cast them one last look before she walks into the portal, before Oliver can react though, Mia launches herself onto Felicity’s back just as the portal closes behind both of them.

God damn it, Mia.

* * *

_ Present day _

Felicity stumbles as she lands into a familiar but  _ different  _ apartment, but she can’t even focus on her surroundings, only concerned with her  _ daughter _ that’s currently hanging onto her like a monkey.

“Mia!” Felicity all but yells in surprise. She spins her around so Mia is now in her arms, “Honey, what were you thinking? Daddy is probably worried sick about you!”

“I help you find Lou-Lou!” Mia declares, she spies something behind Felicity and her little green eyes widen in surprise. “See Mommy! Lucas’ blankie!”

Felicity whips around to see what Mia is pointing to and sure enough, Lucas’ blanket, that her mother got for him when he was born, is hanging across a playpen. She takes in her surroundings, her brow wrinkling in confusion. She knows she’s in her first apartment in Starling City, the Robin Hood poster, the tiny little russian men that line her tv, that she remembers breaking when Cooper sent his men to kidnap her and her mother. 

So many things that tell her it  _ is _ her old apartment, but then there are  _ endless _ baby things littering the apartment. Things she is familiar with  _ now _ because she has two kids under the age of 4 but  _ not _ in the past.

She stops short when she sees Oliver’s familiar peacoat hanging on the coat rack, his sneakers resting next to hers. Also a familiar sight to her just  _ not _ in 2013.

She is so confused.

“Is Lucas here?” Mia asks curiously, she slips out of Felicity’s arms and goes exploring the apartment.

Felicity spies a picture frame on the nearby table and gasps, staring back at her is her  _ son _ dressed like a little sailor smiling at the camera and holding him is  _ her  _ and Oliver both of them looking at each other completely smitten.

They have  _ never _ taken these pictures before. For a brief second Felicity wonders if she ended up in another earth, but then she spies Lucas’ blanket and sees Mia’s handprint curry stain on the corner that Oliver just could  _ not _ get out no matter how much he tried and Felicity  _ knows _ the baby in the picture is  _ her _ son.

The question is, how long has their son been in this time?

“Mommy! He’s not here!” Mia calls out running into her room, her lower lip trembling, “Where is he?”

“I think he’s out for a bit,” Felicity explains, she looks down at the picture and sighs, the fact that explaining this to her three year old will be easy given her own trip to the past is utterly ridiculous to her.

Her children need to stop going on time travelling adventures, she is the one that seems to age the most.

“Remember a few weeks ago when you used Aunt Sara’s toy and you met another version of me and your daddy?” Felicity asks her.

“Yea! Daddy was all grumpy and you didnts know me,” Mia says thoughtfully, she looks around the room then back at Felicity, “Is Lou-Lou with another Mommy and Daddy? So then he’s safe?”

“He is.” Felicity confirms, and she has no doubt that her son is in good hands, the countless baby paraphernalia in her apartment confirming her suspicions. 

“Okay, the other you and other daddy won't let anything happens to him,” Mia declares innocently. “C’mon less play!”

Felicity sighs, she wants to go  _ looking _ for her son but there are endless possibilities and she just can’t drag her toddler all over Starling City, with no idea where to begin other than the foundry.

She sinks into the couch and sighs deeply, the day’s events getting the best of her. When they could not find Lucas, every terrible scenario crossed her mind, and while it was only a little bit over an hour it was the longest hour of her life. 

She just wants her son back and  _ now _ .

“Momma, is okay, Lou-Lou come home soon,” Mia whispers just as she wraps her little arms Felicity and she presses a wet kiss on Felicity’s cheek the same way Felicity and Oliver have done to comfort her.

“Thank you, baby. I just miss him,” Felicity confesses.

“I find him!” Mia suddenly declares. 

She slides off of Felicity’s lap and makes her way towards the front door, and Felicity sighs knowing she has to physically stop her because once her daughter makes up her mind, there is nothing that will stop her.

She’s just about to call out to Mia when the front door opens and Felicity is greeted with the most beautiful, but bizarre sight she’s ever seen. A younger version of herself and her husband walk into the apartment, her  _ son _ in their arms smiling brightly at the pair.

“It’s about damn time!”

“Lou-Lou! See, Mommy, I tolds you I finds him!” Mia cheers excitedly to her.

Lucas smiles brightly in recognition of his sister and clasps loudly and to Felicity’s surprise he calls out to her, “Mi-ah!”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry

“Oh my god,” Oliver utters in surprise, his eyes going from one Felicity to the next, he then looks down at the little girl who is staring at him curiously.

_ Mia _ .

“Hi, Daddy!” Mia greets him happily with a little wave of her hand. 

_ Daddy.  _

“What is happening right now?” Felicity stutters out in shock her eyes moving from the woman who looks exactly like her, to the toddler who is also a splitting image of Felicity. 

What is going on?

“We’re from the future,” the  _ other _ Felicity explains matter of factly

She is…. _ they _ … they are from the  _ future. _

“Oh, thank God, everything finally makes sense.”  _ His _ Felicity breathes a sigh of relief she as the other Felicity takes a step towards her holding out her hands for the baby. “Cause I gotta tell I was losing my mind over how Lucas came to be and I…”

_ Her _ baby.

He knows the moment  _ his  _ Felicity comes to the same conclusion when she looks at him horrified.

They can’t... _ she _ can’t take him. 

“Mama!” Lucas cheers on seeing his mother, he pauses then looks at the  _ other _ Felicity, frowns then bursts into tears.

“Oh baby, it’s okay,”  _ both _ Felicity comfort at the same time, the older Felicity moving to take Lucas, and they stare at each other,  _ his  _ Felicity refusing to relinquish her hold on Lucas.

Then after a beat his Felicity takes a step forward and reluctantly hands over the crying baby to her counterpart. Oliver heart clenches are the way she bites her lip to hold back her tears, even more so when Lucas’ cries immediately simmer and he nuzzles his mother. 

Then it happens Lucas suddenly perks up and starts chanting Felicity’s name, his little hands patting her cheek and he bounces in her arms eagerly. 

He recognizes  _ her _ .

She is his  _ actual  _ mother and that breaks Oliver’s heart in ways he didn’t expect. He looks across at his Felicity and can see she is not faring any better than he is. He takes a step towards her and places a comforting hand on her back and she holds back of soft sob. 

“See Mama, he miss you!” Mia says cheerfully, she takes a step towards the pair and smiles cheekily at the baby, “hi Lou-Lou!”

“Mi-ah!” Lucas shouts out to her excitedly almost jumping out Felicity’s arms to get to his sister. Older Felicity though seems put out about his reaction and examines him more closely.

“He said my name!” Mia jumps excitedly, to Oliver’s surprise she turns to him and smiles. The deep dimples in her cheeks catching him by surprise, “Daddy, he said my name!”

Oliver can’t help but startle at the name yet again, Lucas has only been addressing him like that for the past few days after all. 

Mia seems to pick up on his hesitation and she takes a step back from him with a frown then turns to her mother, “he not my daddy, either?”

“Sorry baby, he’s not. Not yet,” Felicity explains, her fingers now running through Lucas’ hair.

Her words seem to have sparked something in Felicity, because suddenly her eyes are narrowed as she scowls at her counterpart and Oliver almost takes an automatic step back ‘cause he  _ knows _ what’s coming.

“Where the hell have you been?” His Felicity snaps, she gestures at the baby, “it’s been  _ months _ !”

“Money in the money jar!” Mia suddenly chimes, she looks at younger Felicity and giggles, “Mommy, you have a potty mouth.”

Older Felicity though jumps and turns to her daughter with the same narrowed eyes, “How do you know that’s a bad word? where did you learn it?”

Mia looks at her innocently, “I dunno.”

“Mia Megan Smoak Queen.”

Oh that’s a mouthful for a four year old, it’s the first thing Oliver thinks his mind whirling at the conversation happening in front of him. His Felicity though is looking at the exchange a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. 

“William.” 

“Don’t go repeating everything your...everything you hear.” The new name surprises both Oliver and Felicity, the older Felicity though seems to remember exactly  _ when _ she is and looks back and her counterpart, “What do you mean  _ months? _ That is impossible.”

Despite her words though, the older Felicity turns her attention back to Lucas, her frown deepening. She brushes her finger over the tiny scar on his forehead that he got the previous week when he tried to walk but fell face first into a table. “Oh god, no. It’s only been a few  _ hours _ . He was not missing that long!”

She looks around the room then back at the other adults, “How long has he been here?”

“Six weeks,” Oliver replies solemnly. 

He won't begin to try and understand how time travel works, but the idea of missing out even a  _ day  _ of Lucas life tugs at his heart like he never expects, much less going  _ weeks _ without his son. 

How is he supposed to say goodbye to his son? How do he and Felicity move on from this?

Older Felicity pulls Lucas closer to her, breathing him in. She whispers soft words to him, and Oliver just knows the guilt is eating at her, the same guilt he’s currently feeling of  _ not _ wanting her take away their son.

“_No!”_ _His_ Felicity suddenly sobs out and Oliver heart _breaks_ for her. 

For  _ them. _

Older Felicity looks at them sympathetically, she places a kiss on Lucas’ forehead and then calls Mia over. Both children seem to understand  _ something _ is happening, Mia’s blue eyes keep sweeping from her mother to the pair, looking at younger Felicity with concern. While Lucas has been uncharastically calm and quiet. “Can you take Lou-Lou in the bedroom? You can show him how to play with the blocks.”

Mia looks at her in alarm, “I didn’t steal the toys, Mommy I was just playing with it.”

Oliver did not even  _ see _ when Mia had ran off with some of Lucas’ toys into Felicity’s bedroom, but the older Felicity clearly did.

“Do you think you can hold him?” Older Felicity asks the toddler, Lucas looking from his sister back to his mother curiously.

“He...he can walk if you...if you hold both his hands,”  _ His  _ Felicity offers in a soft voice.

Both Mia and the Older Felicity whip their heads around to face her with matching surprised expression.

“He’s  _ walkin _ ?” Mia all but screeches in excitement, “Mommy, Lucas can come running with me and Daddy in the mornin’!”

Older Felicity chuckles lightly, and brushes her finger gently against Mia’s nose, “Maybe not quite yet, but soon I’m sure he can.”

She places Lucas on the floor, soon as the baby’s feet touch the floor he starts to bounce in excitement. Mia giggles and immediately stands in front of him taking both of his hands, when Lucas takes an unsteady step towards her she gasps. Lucas laughs loudly and moves his next foot to her and squeals. She takes a small step back and Lucas follows suit, both children laughing as they slowly make their way to the bedroom, each time Mia stops she looks behind her to see where she’s going. Oliver would have never expected that kind of care from a toddler.

Those two are his  _ kids. _ His and Felicity’s kids.

It’s amazing.

How are they supposed to say goodbye to that? To  _ Lucas? _

* * *

“Is she okay with watching him?” Felicity asks her counterpart nervously. She looks behind the other Felicity’ shoulder, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip with worry.

“Yea, they’ll be fine until she decides she does not want him around ‘cause he smells,” Older Felicity remarks with a roll of her eyes. 

“ _ She _ sent him here?” Felicity exclaims in shock, Oliver’s eyes widening in surprise.

Older Felicity raises her arms in defence, “yes, relax we spoke to her and it won’t happen again.”

“I would hope not! Oliver found him at Verdant. Who knows what would have happened if someone else found him?” Felicity snaps back angrily. 

She pauses at the expression on her counterpart’s face, her own brow wrinkling with unease.

“It’s weird to yell at yourself right?” Her older self quips with an amused smile. She collapses onto the couch with and exhausted sigh and looks at the pair expectantly, “so we fucked up. You two wanna tell ‘em what the hell happened here?”

“ _ Excuse  _ me?” Oliver all but growls taking a step towards Felicity’s future self but he then stops, his defensive stance faltering and he turns to  _ her _ and looks slightly uncertain.

Older Felicity laughed loudly in response, “Afraid to yell at me, Queen?” 

“Hey!” Felicity suddenly snaps not appreciating the other woman’s flirty tone.

Older Felicity stops and her eyes narrow at both of them suspiciously, “oh my god the two of you had sex!”

“No!”

“Not yet!” Oliver chimes with Felicity, and she sends him a dirty look at which he grins sheepishly.

“Seriously!” Older Felicity chimes in throwing up her arms, “you two play house for five seconds and jump into bed? It’s too soon! Too quick! No!”

“First off, it was six  _ weeks _ taking care of your son... _ our _ son.” Felicity asks incredulously, the audacity of this woman. “What do you mean too soon?  _ Clearly _ it happened eventually.”

She gestures to the bedroom where their  _ children  _ are currently residing. She and Oliver have  _ children _ , in the future. 

_ Mia _ . 

They have a daughter  _ and _ a son. 

Which begs the question, when exactly do those kids come to be?

“When does it happen exactly?” Felicity asks curiously unable to help herself.

“You... _ we  _ know better than to ask that question,” her older self says stubbornly, “which is why you two should  _ not  _ be sleeping together! Neither of you are ready and…”

“He knows we are in love with him,” Felicity cuts her off dryly. She is fully aware of all the self doubt and self deprecating thoughts she’s had the last few months when it comes to Oliver Queen and she has no doubt that’s exactly where the Felicity’s mind went to.

She pauses at Felicity’s words, her features softening and she turns to Oliver smiling at him, “you really did get to tell me you loved me sooner.”

Oliver smiles shyly at her in return his cheeks pinking up and all Felicity can think about is how uneasy she feels that those Oliver Queen heart eyes aren’t directed at  _ her _ . 

Per se.

“ _ Okay,”  _ Felicity drawls out stepping between the two and breaking their eye contact, Oliver looks properly chastised but her older self only sends him a half of a wink, which makes Oliver  _ blush _ and Felicity only scowls in annoyance. “Don’t you have your own husband to flirt with?”

Older Felicity only laughs in return and smirks, “retract your claws. To answer your question I do and he is no doubt losing his mind because Mia was  _ not _ suppose to come. She hitchhiked this trip.”

She’s more amused than anything, but Oliver looks slightly ashen, “she  _ hitchhiked  _ through time? She sent her baby brother back to the past. She’s a handful isn’t she?”

Older Felicity only laughs, “let’s just say she will keep you on your toes when you are no longer wearing the hood and running down criminals.”

No longer wearing the hood. 

Oliver looks across at Felicity startled. They had been discussing this lately, the idea of raising a baby with the life they lead, and if it’s something they could maintain. Neither of them ready to let go quite yet, both wanting to do so much more for the city but at the same time Lucas is their priority. 

He  _ was _ their priority.

Felicity heart drops, they have to say goodbye to their son. She can’t say goodbye to Lucas.

She  _ can’t. _

“Why are you telling us about the future? Oliver no longer wearing the hood is a  _ huge _ spoiler alert,” Felicity remarks suspiciously, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

Older Felicity looks at both of them apologetically, “I have to...you can’t...I need to go back further in time, before you met Lucas.”

“What? I don’t understand, why would you go back further in time?” Oliver asks in confusion.

“You want it to be like we  _ never _ met him, you’re not just taking him away you’re taking him from our memory as well,” Felicity deduces horrified.

“No! You can’t do that!” Oliver protests angrily, Felicity feels his fingers lace through hers and she grips his hand like a lifeline. 

“We don’t want to forget him. You can’t do that to us,” Felicity practically begs her eyes filling with tears, “we love him and we raised him for six weeks. For six weeks he was  _ ours  _ you cannot take that from us.”

“Too soon...too soon. Lucas isn’t the only thing you’re taking from us,” Oliver accuses, his grip on Felicity’s hand tightening. “Why would you want to forget this? You can see for yourself it’s made both our lives better.”

“Too much has changed, I can’t risk  _ my _ future.  _ My _ family. You’re not supposed to change the future with time travel it could have catastrophic consequences. I only have half my heart with me. I refuse to take a chance with that. This family has taken enough chances to last a lifetime. You two find your way to each other eventually, you always do.”

Felicity knows that tone well, she looks at Oliver and she can tell  _ he _ is familiar with that tone as well, and has a resigned look on his face. 

Felicity though refuses to just let things go, not only is she losing her son, but  _ all _ the progress she and Oliver have made, all these amazing memories are just going to  _ vanish _ . 

She refuses to believe that.

“I know that look,” her older counterpart seems more amused than anything, with only serves to irritate Felicity more. “We both know I’m not going to change my mind on this.”

“It’s six weeks of your life! Six week of your son’s life! You might not have these memories now but don’t you want them? Don’t you want to see what your life would be like if you  _ did _ tell Oliver you loved him sooner?” Felicity counters, and she can see she struck a chord with the older woman. 

“It would be for selfish reasons. I can’t change the course of history just to benefit my family.” Older Felicity replies stubbornly, despite her words she still seems unsure her eyes moving from Oliver and Felicity’s clasped hands to their face.

“Mia mentioned that Lucas said her name, he said Mama and Da. He stood on his own,” Felicity counters desperately, she can see the last bit gets to the older woman when Felicity frowns. “Yea I didn’t think he was close to walking before he came here. I was there. Oliver was there. We both watched him stand and try to take that  _ one  _ step. You don’t remember that but  _ we _ do. Don’t you want those memories?”

She’s pleading now, almost close to tears and she can see she’s gotten to her older step. Older Felicity bites her lip, “I was not home when Mia walked, I was in London for a work conference. I was speaking with Oliver and the kids, I saw it on video but not…”

“ _ Kids?” _ Oliver startles in surprise, but Felicity can see she’s making a breakthrough with her.

“Well I was there, we both were. Moira caught it all on video.” 

“Moira,” Older Felicity mutters in deep thought, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. 

_ That _ tone alone has Felicity on alert she knows there is more to that story, but she can’t focus on that right now. She may have to say goodbye to her son but she refuses to  _ forget _ him.

“I only just learned he was  _ mine _ ,” Felicity pleads again, “for weeks I was angry at  _ you _ , for abandoning him. I was angry that you left him to fend for himself and I wished more than anything he was  _ mine  _ and now that I know he  _ is _ mine. I don’t want to forget that, I don’t want to forget  _ him _ . You’re already taking him away from us, don’t take the memory of him as well.”

“Can you imagine someone telling you that you are no longer going to remember your kids? That not only are they taking them away but that you will not even have any  _ memory _ of them?” Oliver counters equally desperate. He takes a step towards her and takes her hand, “you and Lucas,  _ you’re  _ my one good thing.”

“This can change  _ everything _ ,” Older Felicity reasons weakly, “there are so many good things to look forward to.  _ So _ many and it would be selfish of us to do this only for our benefit and not think about how this might affect other people.”

Felicity sighs, she’s right. Of course she is, this is when being a genius is more a curse than a blessing.

“I don’t have much time - which is ironic given it’s time travel and….” She continues and Felicity looks at her future self with wide eyes.

“ _ Felicity _ ,” Oliver calls out softly, putting a stop to the beginning a long winded babble no doubt. Felicity looks at the pair slightly out put at the exchange, rationally she knows she’s jealous of  _ herself _ , but doesn’t stop the churning in her stomach any less.

“Right. I really hope I don’t regret this,” older Felicity remarks slightly nervously.

She’s going to let them change  _ history _ . 

“Auntie Sara!” Mia’s loud explanation startled all three adults and older Felicity sighs in defeat.

“This is why I can’t be a criminal mastermind,” older Felicity mutters just as  _ Sara _ Lance walks out of the bedroom with Lucas on her hip and Mia holding her hand babbling excitedly, telling the woman  _ everything  _ that has happened.

Sara looks at older Felicity with a knowing smirk, a look of  _ familiarity  _ that Felicity knows she does  _ not _ have with the young woman.

“Lucy, you got some splainin’ to do,” Sara teases. She then sobers and looks at Older Felicity sternly, not even glancing at the other two, “wanna tell me why your kid always ends up in the middle of an aberration?”

“Already? I was hoping to fix this one before you noticed,” Older Felicity replies clearly chastised.

“How exactly where you gonna do that? The entire world knows about your kid,” Sara remarks clearly amused, “the kid changed  _ everything  _ there is now a registration for  _ two  _ Lucas Smoak Queens 2014  _ and 2022.  _ Felicity, this one is bigger than Mia’s little trip,  _ everyone _ knows about him.”

Oh no. From the look of horror on her counterpart’s face Felicity knows immediately, this is  _ not _ a good thing. Not that she thought messing with  _ time _ was ever a good thing.

“No one is going to get  _ rid _ of him are there?” Oliver all but growls as he takes his son from Sara and holds the baby protectively against his chest. 

Both Sara and older Felicity look at him slightly confused, and Oliver raises a hand in defense, “I don’t know, isn’t it affecting some cosmic order of things or something?”

“You started him on Dr. Who, already?” Older Felicity asks Felicity clearly amused.

“Trust me if some cosmic being hasn’t come for any of the WestAllen family, your kid has nothing to worry about,” Sara dismisses easily, at Felicity and Oliver’s blank stare she sighs, “How far did we come back again? Not that is matters anyway, time to go kiddies. Let’s fix this mess and hit the road.”

“Can we get ice cream after, Sara?” Mia asks Sara excitedly, taking her hand and swinging it eagerly, “Mint chip?”

“Hey, missy no ice cream for you,” Older Felicity says sternly, but she freezes when she sees Sara pull out something that looks like a very large pen, “Hey! None of that! I thought you said you were gonna fix it? Not erase their memories.”

“Felicity, the  _ world _ knows about your son,” Sara reasons looking at the older Felicity like she is being deliberately obtuse about this. “You know how this works.”

Felicity takes a step towards Oliver, gripping his t-shirt firmly. 

They  _ can’t.  _

“I promised them I wouldn’t take away their memories,” Older Felicity replies stubbornly.

“Felicity, this is not your first time travel rodeo. You can’t make that kind of promise,” Sara sighs in exasperation. She looks at Oliver and rolls her eyes, when he only holds Lucas close to him, “He’s gonna fight me, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” Oliver all but growls, and Felicity has to put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from doing something stupid. Sara seems completely unbothered by Oliver’s threat.

When Felicity places her hand on his shoulder though, Lucas peeks over Oliver’s shoulder and sends her a toothy smile that melts her heart, “Hi!”

“Hi baby,” Felicity chokes out, the looming thought of saying goodbye to him, overwhelming her yet again. She tries to hold back her tears when Lucas jumps in her arms, but when he places a wet kiss on her lips, she can’t hold back her sob.

“I can’t do this to them, to  _ me _ .” Older Felicity pleads to Sara, her own voice wavering, reminding Felicity that there are other people in the room.

“ _ Felicity,”  _ Sara groans rubbing her face tiredly, “You’re putting me in a bad spot here.”

“Who’s gonna know?” Older Felicity cajoles. 

There is more to this exchange that meets the eye, Felicity knows this, but she can’t help but allowing the small bit of hope to simmer. Oliver is watching the exchange just as closely, and even the kids are quiet looking on at the pair, even if they do not understand what the conversation is about. Not that Felicity can follow along anymore either.

She uses this time to hold Lucas closer to her while watching Mia. Her little blonde curls bounce every time she moves her head from older Felicity to Sara, watching the pair like a tennis match. Her green eyes are narrowed, her forehead wrinkle in deep thought, she has her little arms folded across her chest, and her feet slightly parted. Felicity looks across at Oliver and pauses when she sees that Oliver is standing in the  _ exact _ same stance as Mia, down to the wrinkle in his forehead and she can’t help but smile. Mia may look exactly like Felicity, but every single thing about her in this moment just  _ screams _ Oliver and it’s the most amazing thing Felicity has ever seen.

She pulls out of her thoughts about her and Oliver’s  _ daughter _ by Sara’s next words.

“You’re lucky I have a soft spot for blondes,” Sara remarks pocketing her device and then pulling out another one, this time much smaller.

“Pretty sure you just have a soft spot for  _ me,”  _ Older Felicity  _ flirts _ with Sara, and the other woman only winks in return. 

This time Oliver  _ does _ growl and Felicity worries that he may very well fight Sara.

“_Thank_ _you_, Sara,” Older Felicity replies gratefully, all jokes aside.

“Don’t thank me yet. There is no way around fixing the timeline, but there is a loophole,” Sara reasons.    
  


She gains all three adults attention, even Mia stands up straight at her words, and Felicity wonders just how much the kid is understanding. Even if she does not understand, she certainly looks the part. Felicity wishes she could pay more attention to Mia, but she knows there are more important things at stake.

“A time travel loophole?” Older Felicity asks skeptically.

“Sort of, it’s difficult to explain, but given the lengths in which things have changed, there are two ways to fix these aberrations. Either you eliminate the cause there by rendering the entire thing moot and it automatically rights itself. I will not be doing that, so all three of you can stop looking at me like you want to kill me. Hey you too mini Arrow.”

“You are  _ not _ gonna take my brother,” Mia  _ growls _ and takes a firm stance in front of Oliver and Felicity, her little arms raised and fists clenched, ready to fight.

“She reminds me of you,” Oliver whispers to Felicity with a proud grin. 

Funny, Felicity was thinking the same thing about  _ him _ .

“I told you, you should let me train her for a bit, help with that Queen temper of hers,” Sara quips in amusement. She looks down at Mia and chuckles, “Gotta widen your stance there, that way you can brace for an attack.”

“There will be no attacking of anyone.  _ Especially _ by the four year old.” Older Felicity warns placing a hand on Mia’s shoulder, but the little girl only widens her stance exactly like Sara tells her and shrugs off her mother’s hand.

Oh, that one is gonna be a  _ lot _ to handle.

“Mia, you’re already on thin ice for getting us into this mess in the first place,” Older Felicity warns her daughter.

Mia though only pouts in return, “But Sara was being mean and wanted to take Lucas! She cants take my brothers.”

“Do you think Mommy or Daddy would let that happen?” Older Felicity counters reasonably.

Mia sighs dramatically in response as she shakes her head, “No and there are  _ two _ of you and only one Sara.”

“Exactly,” Older Felicity nods then looks at Sara expectantly, “The second option, please.”

“Did you just use your Mom voice on me?” Sara asks with a grin. She glances at Felicity and smirks, “You’re a far cry from the girl that used to flirt with me when we first met.”

“Hey!” Oliver suddenly exclaims in alarm, looking at Felicity slightly put out, “You flirted with Sara?”

“Okay, we’re veering off course here. Can we focus please?” Older Felicity calls out sending Sara a glare, and the other woman only smirks in response. 

Felicity can tell immediately that the other woman is only doing this to get a rise out of Oliver, and he’s falling for it hook, line and sinker. She places a hand on his shoulder, calming him, that method at least working on him verse Mia who is still looking at Sara suspiciously. Loyal and stubborn like her father, that one.

“Sara.” Older Felicity calls out yet again.

“So, given the length of time Lucas has been here. Erasing memories is a bit more complicated. You can’t exactly erase memories, but you can  _ suppress _ them. Too many people know about Lucas, I have to fix that, by alternating everyone’s memories in a way that they  _ think _ they forgot about him.” Sara explains, and Felicity is a bit of a loss at how that is any different than erasing their memories.

“I don’t see how us  _ thinking _ we forgot him, is any different than us not  _ knowing _ who he is,” Oliver all but growls in frustration, “How are we supposed to know we forgot something we don’t remember?”

“Gets a rememberall!” Mia suddenly chimes in excitedly, “ So you members you forgottens something.”

“99% of the time this kid only reminds me of Oliver, until she says something like that,” Sara looks at Felicity in amusement, “and I remember she’s totally your kid more than just the looks.”

Felicity grins, but older Felicity only huffs, clearly more fixated on the issue at hand, no doubt use to these comments unlike Felicity herself. “So you’re saying we will be able to  _ access _ these memories?”

“That’s the theory. We’ve never exactly tested them out, something significant should trigger it.” Sara explains.

“Should?” Felicity repeats skeptically.

“Significant like what? How are we supposed to know what will trigger it, to actually use that trigger to get back our memories?” Oliver asks with a frown, “This sounds like a half ass plan. I don’t like it.”

“Well you don’t have a choice in the matter. I have to go back to the waverider, to start the process,” Sara explains looking at her watch, she then turns to older Felicity, “You have 10 minutes to take the rugrats back home before it starts.  _ Please _ let this be the last time your kids take a joy ride through time. If anything I thought William would be the one to make his own time machine, but the munchkins beat him to it.”

“William? Who is William? That’s the second time you people have mentioned him,” Oliver chimes in, but both older Felicity and Sara pointedly ignore him. Mia even so much as goes to open her mouth, and older Felicity places her hand over the little girl’s mouth.

Oliver does  _ not  _ take too kindly to this, but Sara only presses a few things on her watch and to their amazement a large breach opens up in front of her. She turns to older Felicity, “Ten minutes.” 

With those words she steps into the breach and then disappears before their very eyes.

“We really are dealing with  _ time travel _ .” Felicity says her voice full of awe.

“Kid appears out of nowhere and is yours by  _ blood _ , despite the fact that you have yet to give birth to any of them. But the  _ breach _ is what convinced you?” Older Felicity quips incredulously, “I never thought of myself as such a skeptical. Then again, after seeing aliens, I feel like anything was possible.”

“ _ Aliens?” _

Oliver’s question is forgotten though when older Felicity looks at them sadly, “It’s time.”

_ No _ .

“But we don’t even know if we will find the thing that will give us back our memories,” Felicity pleads, tightening her grip on Lucas, who starts to get fussy at the firm grip she has on him. “We can’t.”

“I’m so sorry,” 

Felicity cradles Lucas head against her chest, pressing her lips on his forehead. She inhales deeply, breathing in Lucas familiar baby scent, wishing she could commit it to memory. 

She’s going to miss this little face so much, and what’s worse is she won’t even  _ know _ she will be missing him.

“How are we supposed to know what will trigger our memories?” Oliver asks helplessly. 

He runs his fingers through Lucas’ blonde hair and the baby sends him a cheeky smile. He pulls away from Felicity and presses a wet open mouth kiss on Oliver’s chin, wrinkling his little nose in displeasure at the feel of Oliver’s scruff.

“I don’t know. We just have to hope there will be  _ something  _ that does it. Sara said that all your memories would be there, they just need to be accessed,” Older Felicity explains equally helpless. “I’m so sorry, when I started building this watch I never thought something like  _ this _ would be the consequences. That I would suffer the most from it.”

Her words do little to comfort Felicity, because at least  _ she _ gets to go home with Lucas. It’s selfish and irrational thing to think, but all Felicity can focus is that she has to say goodbye to  _ Lucas _ .

“I’ll give you two a moment,” Older Felicity eventually says when neither Oliver or Felicity move to say anything, or relinquish their hold on Lucas. She scoops up Mia and presses a kiss to the little girl’s cheek, “C’mon M&M, let me show you my favourite place in this whole apartment.”

Felicity knows she’s about to take her to the little nook in Felicity’s walk in closet where she likes to read, or code, on cold winter nights.

She turns her attention to Oliver, who looks as sad and broken as she feels, “I don’t want to let him go,”

“Neither do I,” Felicity sobs out. She tightens her grip around Lucas until the baby starts to whine in protest, “Think we can make a run for it?”

Oliver chokes out soft laugh, his hand ruffling Lucas’ blonde hair again, “I’ll distract them, you start the car?”

“You know I never imagined I’d be the one to drive the getaway car in this relationship,” Felicity remarks. She presses a kiss to Lucas’ forehead, and breathes him in again.

“You’re the better driver between the two of us,” Oliver points out.

They are trying so very hard to keep things light, but the moment their eyes meet, Felicity’s eyes fill with tears as she hands Lucas over to Oliver, knowing he’s been itching to hold their son, but was allowing her more time.

“How are we supposed to say goodbye?” Felicity whispers brokenly.

“Maybe...maybe we don’t look at it as goodbye,” Oliver offers softly, his own sob catching in his throat. “It’s more like see you soon. ‘Cause Lucas, Mia  _ that _ will be our life one day, Felicity. I promise you that.”

“Why can’t that be our life  _ now _ ?” Felicity pleads with him irrationally. She gasps when Lucas’ chubby little hand raises and pats her face gently, clearly concerned about her tears and it only makes Felicity break down more.

“It’s not their time,” Oliver reasons, but she knows he’s only saying it for her benefit. “We have to...to trust this is the life we are meant to have and that when the time is right we will have all of this.”

“How...how did you get so hopeful?” Felicity sobs out, she presses her tears stained cheeks against Oliver’s shoulder, her fingers gripping Oliver’s t-shirt tightly.

“I fell in love with you, and you gave me that hope.”

Damn this man, she’s emotionally compromised already, she looks up at him concern, “Are you worried about us? Lucas is not the only thing that we’re gonna forget. We’re gonna forget  _ us _ .”

“Felicity, even before Lucas came into our lives there was always an us,” Oliver replies with conviction. “That will never change.”

There is so much she wants to tell him, so much she  _ needs _ to tell him. Except they do not have anymore time.

Older Felicity and Mia appear at the bedroom door, the little girl watching them with wide concern eyes.

“Why is everyone so sad?” Mia asks concern, her lower lip trembling.

“They are just sad to see you and Lucas go,” Older Felicity explains, smoothing down Mia’s blonde curls.

Felicity wipes her eyes and puts on a brave smile, taking a step away from Oliver and Lucas to smile at Mia, “Can I get a hug before you go?”

Mia looks at her with narrowed suspicious eyes, and Felicity almost regrets her request when the little girl surprises her and runs into her arms. “Love you, Mama.”

Oh  _ wow _ .

They have been so focused on saying goodbye to Lucas, Felicity still hasn’t wrapped her mind around the fact that there is a whole other little person who is also theirs. 

“Love you too,” Felicity whispers to the little girl pressing a kiss against her blonde hair and overcome by the smell of cotton candy.

“Switch-ies!” Mia suddenly yells and she runs turns to Oliver, who realizes belatedly that Mia wants to hug him.

Felicity quickly takes Lucas from Oliver just as Mia runs into Oliver, his soft gasp telling how he too, is blown away by the little girl in front of them.

“Okay, guys.” Older Felicity calls out looking at her watch, beckoning Mia towards her. 

The little girl nods and then turns to Oliver planting a wet kiss on Oliver’s lips before hugging him tightly, “Love you Daddy.”

“Mama!” Lucas calls out gaining Felicity’s attention, oh how she’s gonna miss that sweet voice, even if she won't know it.

“Bye baby boy. I can’t wait to see you again in a few years,”Felicity murmurs softly against Lucas’ soft hair, trying to keep her sobs at bay. 

She kisses him a few times until the baby starts to get fussy and she feels a hand on her back. She looks up to see Oliver equally teary, and he leans forward to press a kiss on Lucas’ head, “See you soon, son.”

He then breathes in deeply and takes a step back from them and Felicity knows its time. She looks across to see her counterpart looking back at them sadly, “I’m so sorry about this.”

Her words go on deaf ears as Felicity hands Lucas over to her. She feels Oliver fingers lace threw hers and they both watch as another breach appears. Mia waves enthusiastically, Lucas following suit and both Felicity and Oliver halfheartedly wave at the pair.

The moment the trio disappears into the breach, Felicity breaks down.

Their son is gone.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. The end of this adventure. Thank you all so much for the love and comments both here and on Twitter. 
> 
> The response to this fic has been INSANE, I never in a million years expected this kind of reaction to this not so little fic.
> 
> THANK YOU.
> 
> Thanks to C for encouraging to not only write this fic but to also post it in the first place. I almost did not
> 
> Thanks to Pall for making sense of my gibberish and forcing me to write, ESPECIALLY with this chapter. I struggled with this one the most.
> 
> Thanks to Esther to listening to the crazy

Oliver wakes to the sound of birds chirping outside the window. He rolls onto his stomach his arm flying to the other side of the bed and he frowns at the empty space. He raises his head and glances across the bedroom in confusion.

He doesn’t remember coming back to the mansion after last night’s parole. In fact he doesn’t remember much of  _ anything  _ the night before. 

_ Felicity _ .

He remembers being with Felicity, but just can’t seem to put his finger on what they were doing.

He groans softly as he raises off the bed. His bedroom is spotless as usual, there’s barely any sign that he’s been here. Which begs the question why would he come back to the mansion after a long night out?

He’d usually crash in the foundry, too tired to bother coming home. 

Oliver looks around his bare bedroom and frowns, the feeling of unease settles in his stomach when he tries to recall the previous night and still comes up blank.

With a sigh he glances at his alarm clock and realizes, uneasy or not, he still has work to go to and maybe Felicity might be able to shed some light on what they did last night that has him drawing a blank.

He slides off the bed and begins moving on autopilot. Twenty minutes later he walks out of his bedroom and heads straight to the adjacent spare bedroom when he stops short. He glances at the generic guest bed that probably hasn’t been touched in years and frowns. 

He never goes into that bedroom, why would he do that?

He shakes his head again and rights his route making his way to the kitchen. He finds his mother sitting at the centre island with a coffee mug in her hand as she stares out into the distance lost in thought.

“Hey, everything okay?” He calls out to her softly, not wanting to startle her but she looks at him in confusion either way.

“Yes... I woke up feeling like there was something I needed to do, but then I realized I just got out of jail, so there really isn’t anything pressing I need to get to,” she jokes lightly, but he can see that she still seems as put out and he feels.

“It’s been a strange morning for me too,” Oliver confesses, surprising not only himself, but clearly his mother as well, he’s never been so open about his feelings. “Something just doesn’t feel right.”

“You haven’t had one of those nights in quite some time,” his mother teases lightly.

Oliver huffs out a small laugh knowing she’s teasing him. “Maybe we both need some coffee to start our day.”

He takes a step towards her and places a kiss on her forehead, “I’ll see you for dinner?”

“Oh!” His mother slightly taken aback at his suggestion, surprised that he would suggest it in the first place. Lately he’s been avoiding his mother, unsure how to be around her since her return home. “Yes! That will be great, I’ll call your sister, maybe the three of us can have dinner at 7.” 

She walks off talking about menus to herself, and he does not have the heart to burst her bubble. He shakes his head and finishes off the rest of his coffee, hoping that the uneasiness will disappear by the time he gets to work.

* * *

Oliver walks into the office balancing two bags in his hand along with a gingerbread latte with whipped cream and cinnamon. He’s certain that Felicity could drink honey from the bottle and it would have the same effect as this concoction she calls a coffee.

“Breakfast bagel with bacon and cheese, mini chocolate donut holes and a medium gingerbread latte with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon.” Oliver presents her haul to as he places them carefully on the desk in front of a surprised Felicity.

“Does a dude need to be a blonde with glasses to get a small black coffee?” Diggle comments dryly by the entrance of Oliver’s office.

Oliver glares at his friend who only raises his hands in defense and quickly excuses himself to get  _ his _ coffee. Oliver rolls his eyes and takes a seat on the opposite side of Felicity’s desk grabbing his simple bagel with cream cheese. He takes a bite but pauses mid chew when he catches Felicity’s staring at him with wide eyes, her food and drink untouched.

“Did I get your order wrong?” Oliver asks with concern already diving into her bags to check her sandwich.

“No, it’s  _ perfect _ ,” Felicity replies her voice full of awe, she takes a sip of her coffee and moans softly in appreciation, Oliver’s pants twitching at the sounds she’s making. While that was  _ never _ his intent when he picked up their breakfast this morning, he can’t say he does not appreciate  _ her _ appreciation of her breakfast. Felicity takes a bite of her sandwich and gives Oliver a calculated suspicious look, “Do we do this now?”

“Do what?” Oliver asks mid bite, his brow furrows in confusion.

“Have breakfast together,” Felicity clarifies, she takes off the cover from her cup and dips her finger in a large swirl of whipped cream. Oliver watches entranced as she then takes her finger and wraps her pink stained lips around it. She then continues with their conversation as though she did not just send all of Oliver’s blood running south. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s nice. I just didn’t think it was something we  _ did _ ...what?”

To Oliver’s utter surprise, when she catches him staring at her, she boldly dips her finger back in the whipped cream and takes a generous lick from the whip cream. When Oliver releases an audible groan of pleasure they  _ both _ catch themselves and Felicity quickly squeaks out in surprise and quickly gets to her feet mumbling something about getting back to work. 

The moment broken.

Oliver finishes off the last of his breakfast watching as she quickly cleans up their mess leaving only their coffee cups on her desk. 

When she comes back she still can’t seem to make eye contact with him. To his surprise, she picks up her half drunken latte and takes his own black coffee and adds a small bit of hers into his and swirls it around. 

When she finally looks up at him, she flinches in surprise and looks at his coffee cup in confusion, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that. I know you like to add some flavour to your coffee from time to time. But I hardly think you wanted to taste mine.”

“No it’s okay I wanted to taste you...I mean your coffee,” Oliver stutters our his ears burning and he can see Felicity’s cheeks are stained red as well. “I mean I’d been smelling the gingerbread all the way up to the office and thought about asking you. I just...how did you know?”

“I don’t know,” Felicity says truthfully, she rubs her forehead still slightly flustered, “I’ve been feeling off all morning. Like I just can’t seem to rub the feeling that I’m missing something.”

Oliver pauses at her words, he’s been feeling the exact same way as well. He’s just about to ask her about it when her phone rings.

“We should get back to work, don’t want to give the she-demon reason to give you the boot,” Felicity remarks lightly.

She raises her hand and gently rubs his chest while the other moves down his arm to gently squeeze his fingers before she grabs her phone and answers it. There is no waver in her voice and she doesn’t spare Oliver a glance despite the fact that she basically  _ caressed  _ him in the middle of the office and didn’t even bat an eyelash.

What’s even weirder about the whole thing is not only does Oliver  _ welcome _ the gesture, it feels like the most natural thing in the world. He finds himself gently brushing her shoulder with his finger tips before he makes his way to his office.

Something strange is going on.

* * *

“First breakfast, now lunch, a girl could get used to this,” Felicity teases to Oliver as he pulls back her chair for her.

They are currently in a small deli stopping for lunch as per Oliver’s request. Oliver looks at her uncomfortably, “we can get it to go if you want…”

“Oh no, I was only teasing,” Felicity reassures, her cheeks pinking up. When Oliver asked her if she’d like to stop by at the deli for lunch she thought nothing of it, but the moment they stepped into the quiet little restaurant it looked far more intimate than Felicity anticipated. “we should be able to collect it in a few minutes.”

Oliver pauses at his own seat looking at her slightly confused, “you ordered already?”

“Yea! They have an online app so I ordered us a soup each and a full sandwich to share. Is that okay?” Felicity asks now  _ she’s  _ nervous about presuming Oliver would want her to order for him, “I got us the meat supreme with Dijon mustard and a chicken noodle soup for you.”

Oliver opens his mouth about to say something, but then shakes his head and takes a seat in front of her, “thanks.”

She nods, unsure what to say next and Oliver seems equally nervous and she hates that she implied they were on a date. Her brain to mouth filter failed her again. 

Things have been slightly off between her and Oliver all day, for some reason neither of them seem to know what to say to other but yet they both seem to keep finding reasons to be in each other’s personal space. 

It’s unnerving to say the least. 

Their awkward silence is suddenly broken by the sound of a baby crying. They both immediately turn to the right to see a young man holding a baby no older than a year. 

The baby continues to cry in earnest as his father tries to calm him down but with no avail. Felicity sees the babies gums are red and raw as he cries and before she really thinks about it she leans over to their table.

“If you get a little bit of ice and get him to suck on it. It should help with the teething,” Felicity offers him politely.

The father looks at her surprise but quickly grabs a small block of ice from his drink after cleaning it free from his soda he offers the ice to the baby who immediately starts sucking on it earnestly.

“Oh thank you! I forgot his teething rings at home and I didn’t know what else to use,” the father says gratefully. “Being a single dad I’m still surprised at how quickly other parents are always right there to offer my advice. Guess we gotta stick together?”

“Oh!” Felicity squeaks in surprise at his words, she can feel Oliver’s eyes boring into her, “I don’t have kids. I just…it seemed like the logical option.”

“You got good instincts then.”

He gets distracted by his fussy baby, effectively ending the conversation. When Felicity turns her focus back to Oliver he has an unreadable expression on his face.

“Felicity…”

However at the same time Felicity’s phone chimes announcing their food is ready. She gets to her feet, clutching her phone to her chest, “I’ll get the food.”

She does not wait for Oliver to respond and quickly disappears among the small crowd of people. 

* * *

Hours later Felicity finds herself sitting in front of her computer the uneasiness she’s been experiencing all day has yet to simmer. 

All day she’s been finding herself looking around, searching for something but she’s still unsure what it could possibly be. She checked her calendar twice hoping to shed some light into her absentmindedness but it doesn’t help. She just feels  _ empty _ , and the thing that bothers her the most is she doesn’t understand  _ why,  _ and  _ NO ONE _ hates a mystery more than Felicity Smoak.

Felicity woke up this morning with the weirdest feeling that she forgot something. She spent all morning walking around her empty apartment looking for  _ something _ but not exactly sure  _ what _ it was. 

Her pointless endeavour led her to only having a cup of coffee for breakfast, and while it’s not a foreign concept to her, her stomach certainly protested at the lack of food by the time she got to the office. 

She was about ready to run out and pick up something when Oliver swooped in like some knight in shining armour delivering her  _ favourite  _ breakfast from the tiny little cafe that’s a block away from  _ her _ house. 

She didn’t think Oliver even knew the area, beyond her address. But he had her breakfast and her ridiculously specific holiday latte, how he knew this still unnerves her.

Then there was the whole incident at the deli, she’s still unsure how she knew about that baby. She may be a genius but children have never been her forte, in fact she never really considered having them in the first place. That would require having someone in her life and somehow she doubts being in love with an unavailable closed vigilante would increase her chances of ever having kids.

Felicity shakes her head free of those thoughts, why her mind seems to constantly go back to kids of all things is ridiculous. She toes off her heels and sinks deeper into her chair, her only hope is that fighting Starling City latest bad guy will give her the clarity that she’s been searching for. 

She hears the sound of boots hitting against the concrete and sits up, almost afraid Oliver could hear her thoughts. 

Without looking up at him she quickly brings up the schematics for the warehouse Oliver is about to infiltrate. 

“I found three entrances, two are heavily guarded so the last one is your best bet,” Felicity explains, she jumps when she feels Oliver’s hand on her shoulder.

He has been doing that a lot today, going out of his way to touch her, he’s never done that before. But what’s strange is that he doesn’t seem aware that he’s doing it until he catches himself or  _ she  _ catches him.

“Do you have eyes on all three?” Oliver asks curiously, his eyes are on the screen clearly calculating the easiest route for him.

He moves to stand next to her, his fingers that were on her shoulder are now playing with the tips of her hair on her ponytail. Felicity glances across at him in surprise, waiting for him to pull back, to  _ stop _ or at least react to what he’s doing but his blue eyes remain fixated on her computer screens.

“I do, the best option is the north entrance,” Felicity explains distractedly.

“Okay, I’ll head north unless you say otherwise. Keep me posted?” Oliver asks his voice soft as he gently squeezes her shoulder.

She looks up at him and smiles softly, “stay safe?”

“I’ll try,” Oliver promises and then the weirdest thing happens he leans forward and presses a brief kiss to her lips. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Felicity replies automatically, but she then freezes horrified at her words.

Oliver’s back is to her and she seems him falter slightly but he does not stop and quickly heads out of the foundry, bow clenched in his hand.

What the hell just happened?

* * *

“I can’t believe you would be so reckless!” Felicity’s voice is the first thing Oliver hears as he comes to. “What am I saying? Of  _ course  _ you would do something as reckless as jump in front of that car. You  _ stupid  _ man!”

Oliver tries to let her know that he’s awake but his entire body aches. Despite this, he feels the way Felicity’s fingers tighten around his hand as she continues to berate him. “I don’t know what you were thinking. The mission was over, bad guys locked up, not a scratch on your body, for once. Then you had to go flying off your bike darting into traffic like a crazy person. What the hell Oliver?”

He tries to move, tries to get her attention, but his body refuses to cooperate. 

“Figures the first time you tell me you love me, you run into a freaking car to avoid me,” Felicity grumbles. “I’m a big girl you know, I can handle the truth. Which begs the question, what the hell was that? All day I’ve been feeling like I’m living in an alternate reality, like  _ something _ is missing, but I have no  _ clue  _ what that is which is making me go  _ crazy!  _ Then you turn around and tell me you love me like you tell me this  _ every _ day and that kiss...that kiss was  _ not _ first kiss material. That was a kiss that felt like we’ve been doing that for ages, which is stupid because I would know if we’d been kissing for ages. What the hell is going on? Am I losing my mind?”

Felicity huffs loudly and Oliver can feel her hair brush against his forearm as she presses her forehead against his knuckles. “Clearly I am, ‘cause I am choosing to talk to you while you’re unconscious rather than wait till...you know... you can actually  _ talk _ to me.”

“ _ Felicity _ ,” Oliver gasps out in pain, gaining her attention immediately.

“Oliver!” Felicity breathes out a sigh of relief bringing his bruised knuckles to her lips, “I’d appreciate it if you kept the idiotic decisions to a minimum.”

“I’ll remember for next time,” He remarks, and he bites back a smile at her annoyed expression.

“That’s not funny!” Felicity huffs in annoyance. She pinches his wrist lightly and scowls, “What were you thinking? If you didn’t have such a hard head, we would be in the hospital right…”

“No hospital!” Oliver gasps out in horror, he tries to sit up but Felicity places her hand on his chest stopping him.

“Yes, we’ve been down this road before,” she responds dryly, “No gunshot wound, so that’s a step up. But you have a few nasty bruises and John stitched up a few of your cuts. What on earth were you thinking?”

“There was a kid in a stroller,” Oliver explains with a sigh. He tries to sit up but his entire body groans out in protest and he gives up in defeat. “The stroller got away from the mom and was rolling into oncoming traffic. I saw his little face and I just reacted.”

“Oh, was the baby okay? ” Felicity asks with concern, “John did not mention anything about a baby. Then again he was worried about people seeing the Arrow bleeding to death because of a hit and run.”

Oliver huffs at her words, he’s pretty sure it’s not as bad as she claims it is. He’s also pretty sure the baby’s guardian grabbed the stroller just before it got off the curb. Yet he just reacted on instinct running head first into traffic.

“Luckily, it was close to the foundry and John was able to get to you before anyone called the police. The news is reporting about the Arrow being a hero so that’s a nice change of pace.” Felicity looks down at him and sighs softly. She brushes back his slightly damp hair, “that was pretty reckless, even for you. Typically you assess the situation first”

“I don’t know, it’s so strange, I just panicked like it was my own kid out there which is  _ crazy  _ since I clearly don’t have a child,” Oliver replies slightly lost and confused.

“Well it wouldn’t be you if you didn’t do something crazy heroic… Emphasis on  _ crazy.  _ Anyways, mild concussion aside, everyone is okay.” Felicity says softly, “John said you need constant observation for the next 24 hours.”

“I’ll be fine, I’ve had worse,” Oliver grumbles as he finally sits up much to Felicity’s protest.

“Regardless, I’m taking you home,” Felicity says firmly. Oliver waits for her words to catch up with her but she only brushes her fingers lightly against his forehead.

“Ouch,” Oliver winces in pain.

“Don’t be a baby.” Felicity rolls her eyes at him and shoves his shoulder gently. 

Oliver has to bite back a smile at her sudden bout of playfulness. When she wraps her arm around his waist to help him off the gurney, he has to hold himself back from smelling her hair.

“Are you okay to stand?” Felicity asks with concern. He can feel that she’s putting all her effort into take his weight but he knows that would be impossible. 

“Yea,”

“C’mon let’s get you home,” Felicity says softly.  _ This _ time she does freeze at her words, and Oliver can see her cheeks are pink in embarrassment, “that’s not what I meant.  _ My _ home...let me take you home...oh my god no...Felicity  _ stop talking _ .”

Oliver thinks back about on the brief kiss they shared earlier today, he knows they need to talk about it but he does not think now is the best time, “Felicity?” 

“Yea?”

“Thank you for taking care of me,” he says with earnest, and he can see a genuine smile blossoms on her face.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Felicity says earnestly.

She looks up at him with warm eyes, her lips painted pink, but slightly faded, and it takes everything in him to not lean down and kiss her soft lips.

He really should not.

* * *

Felicity watches in slight confusion as Oliver walks around her kitchen, favouring his left side a bit, but that is not what has her concerned. No, it’s the way Oliver has made himself at home in  _ her _ home. Not in the way that some people take over your home without asking, but Oliver just seems to know where  _ everything _ is. He’s currently making hot cocoa, at his  _ insistence _ , and she notices that he even knows where the marshmallows she has hidden behind her cookware are. Why she has a secret stash when she’s the only person living in her apartment isn’t even a question, he only smirks at her in amusement, like he  _ knows  _ she has no self control when it comes to sweets and doesn’t question her.

If he only knew he’s currently testing her self control on  _ other _ things.

Because Oliver Queen, barefoot and shirtless as he walks around her kitchen making her a meal, just does it for her. She’s just decided that this look surpasses Oliver in a suit and Oliver in  _ the _ suit for the top spot in her ‘times she wants to jump Oliver Queen’ list. 

It’s a pretty extensive list.

“Felicity, you’re staring.”

He’s  _ teasing  _ her. The man has the audacity to look like  _ that _ in  _ her _ house and tease her because how can she  _ not _ stare?

“I hate you” Felicity pouts.

Except she doesn’t, and the way he is  _ smirking _ at her, tells her he knows  _ exactly _ what is going through her mind.

Damn him.

“No you don’t,” Oliver remarks in amusement. He walks up to her offering her a large cup of hot cocoa, but pauses at the way she narrows her eyes at him suspiciously, “What? I thought you liked it with marshmallows and cinnamon.”

“I do, but  _ how  _ do you know that?” Felicity asks, and Oliver freezes at her words.

Oliver looks down at the Yoda mug and then back at her slightly put out, “You told me?”

She’s mentioned Star Wars enough times since they met, so it’s not  _ that _ surprising that he would guess right. It’s still disconcerting that he seems to know his way around her apartment when she’s pretty sure he’s never been in her apartment in the first place.

She can see that he is now self conscious about his actions, the Yoda mug still in his hand. She takes a step towards him and wraps her hands around his, they both jump at the surprise contact, but she remains firm with her decision and eases the mug from his grasp. Her pink gently runs along his knuckles, and Oliver’s breath hitches. 

“Thank you,” she whispers softly, her heart hammering in her chest. She takes a sip of the hot cocoa and moans softly in approval. She looks up at Oliver to see that he’s watching her intently, his lips slightly parted, her body warms at his stare. “ Although, I should be taking care of  _ you _ . You’re the one that almost got run over by a  _ car _ .”

“I’ve had worse,” Oliver says dismissively. He goes to take a step away from her, but she places her hand on his forearm, stopping him in his tracks.

“Let me take care of you,  _ please _ ?” She begs. Oliver starts to protest, but then relents when he sees Felicity’s pleading face, how could he ever say no to her? She ushers him out of the kitchen and into the living room both cups of hot cocoa in her hands.

“I’ll get us something for dinner,” Felicity explains as she takes a seat on the couch next to him.

Oliver perks up at her words, accepting the mug of hot cocoa, “You cook?”

Felicity barks out a laugh at his words and his cute confused expression, “You don’t want me to cook for you, if the accident didn’t get you then my cooking definitely will.”

Oliver laughs this time, he takes a sip of his hot chocolate and she watches as he gets comfortable on her couch. Oliver Queen lounging on her couch, drinking hot chocolate is not something she ever thought she’d see, yet he looks at  _ home  _ on her couch.

“You think I’m kidding but I’m really not,” Felicity remarks, “I ordered us a pizza by the way.”

Oliver nods he takes a sip of his hot chocolate and Felicity can see him smiling behind his mug, yet another rare occurrence for him. “What are you smiling about?”

“Three for three.” Oliver says, confusing her to say the least. When he sees her expression he shifts on the couch so that his body is completely facing her. He smiles softly, “breakfast, lunch and now, dinner. A guy could get used to this.”

He echoes her words from earlier today and Felicity fights back her smile, her cheeks warming at the thought.

“Are you inviting me out for breakfast Mr. Queen? That’s a little presumptuous of you,” Felicity flirts sending him a cheeky smile.

To her surprise though Oliver only smirks in return, he lowers his mug, his blue eyes staring intensely at her, and she’s almost terrified of what he might say. But it doesn’t stop her breath from hitching and her heart to stop in anticipation.

“What if I’m inviting you to all of them?” 

“All of what?” Felicity asks confused.

“Breakfasts...all the meals.” 

He’s not making any sense.

“I don’t understand.”

“That kiss we shared. I felt it too,” Oliver says in a rush, he takes her hands in his and looks at her full of conviction, or something more. “You’re not the only one that has been feeling off all day.”

“Seems like we’re both losing our minds then,” Felicity quips lightly, an echo of her previous words, her heart hammering in her chest.

“You’re not losing your mind,” Oliver coughs, and wincing in pain at the movement, reminding Felicity that he is still injured. Her eyes are wide in surprise and she knows they are no longer speaking about the next time they share a meal together. “I feel it too. I’ve been feeling off all day. Like something is….”

“ _ Missing _ ,” Felicity concludes. Her brow wrinkles in the way she normally does when she’s trying to figure out a difficult code. “But what is it?”

“I don’t know. But I do know two things,” Oliver says softly, his heart hammering in his chest he can feel the way Felicity’s grip tightens around his fingers. 

“What?”

“All day, everything felt so off, like a part of me was missing, like I wanted to jump out of my skin and  _ do something  _ and I wasn’t even sure what it was… But when I kissed you earlier I...kissing you like that it never felt more right in that moment. Bringing you coffee has never felt more right.  _ Being  _ with you here and making you Hot Chocolate has never felt more right,” 

Felicity’s eyes are shining with tears as she looks across at him with awe. She licks her lips a sure sign that she’s nervous and utters softly, “and what’s the other thing?”

“That I like...being with you, being with you feels right to me. It’s the only thing that feels right, the only thing that makes me feel whole,” Oliver confesses softly, the tightness in his chest that he’s been feeling all day  _ finally  _ easing. 

For weeks,  _ months _ if he’s being honest with himself, he’s been ignoring his feelings for Felicity. His very real, very  _ strong  _ feelings for her and what that entails. He’s been terrified of the idea that he is in love with her, terrified of what it could mean for him, for  _ them _ . He was so certain she deserves better than him and what he can offer her.

Yet, here he is, lounging on Felicity’s sofa, Felicity staring back at him with equal conviction and  _ hope _ and it gives  _ him _ hope.

“What...what does that mean?” Felicity asks softly her voice full of uncertainty.

“I don’t know,” Oliver confesses, at her crestfallen expression he takes her hand and squeezes it tightly, reassuringly “I don’t know what any of this means, but I do know I want to figure it out...figure it out with you. I’m not very good at this and I care about you Felicity, you’re the one I want to be with, you’re the one I want to…”

“I want us to figure it out together too,” Felicity chimes in, her smile widening. 

She looks at him for a brief second of uncertainty but then shakes her head and leans towards him to capture his lips with hers. She runs her fingers through his hair, tugging at it softly as she deepens the kiss. Oliver’s hand moves to her hip, and Felicity surprises him when she hoists her leg up and over him so that she’s now straddling his lap never once breaking their kiss.

She sighs against his lips, her teeth sinking into his bottom lip, tugging at it softly.

“ _ Oliver _ ,” Felicity moans out softly, Oliver’s hands moving along her back, his fingers curling into her sides. 

Felicity rocks her hips against his, her knee presses against his thigh and Oliver’s body tenses, but for all the wrong reasons, and he cant help but release a low groan of pain. Felicity freezes immediately, she releases his lips with a soft pop, and although Oliver tightens his grip around her waist, she presses her hands against his chest and pulls away.

“We can’t do this.”

Oliver heart ceases at her words, he tries to pull away, but Felicity takes places both hands on his face, forcing him to look at her, “ _ No _ . I meant  _ you _ shouldn’t be doing this, you’re still injured.”

Oliver breaks a sigh of relief, and then runs his hands along her back, “I’ve had worse.”

He leans forward to kiss her, but Felicity places her hand on his lips stopping him. Oliver can’t help but wonder if she’s using his injury to put a stop to this thing between them before it even starts.

Felicity huffs and gently scratches his beard, “Don’t do that. I told you, I’m in this with you. You mean so much to me. This is important.  _ You’re  _ important. You said you aren’t good at this, but the thing is I’m not any better, but I care about you too,  _ so much,  _ there are no words to describe how much and I…”

He doesn’t wait for her to finish but wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her into a deep kiss. She sinks into it, her tongue slips between his lips, but when he gasps out her name, she pulls back, putting a stop to it.

“ _ Felicity _ ,” He whines out in protest. 

Her eyes twinkle with merth as she links their fingers together. When she tries to slide off his lap he protests again.

“Come to bed, Oliver.” Felicity entices, her voice low and going straight to his groin. She seems to catch up with her words and groans, “I didn’t mean it like that. You need to  _ rest _ , you have a concussion.”

“You’re gonna have to wake me up every few hours, anyway, I can think of a few ways we can pass the time,” Oliver remarks cheekily. She pulls him to his feet, and throws him a mock stern expression as she tugs him towards her bedroom.

“This is not what John had in mind when he said I should keep an eye on you,” Felicity remarks, but he knows her resolve is breaking.

They crawl into her bed, and Felicity immediately wraps herself around without any hesitation. He has no clue where they go from here but he does know that no matter what once she is at his side, there is nothing else he can’t face.

_ She _ is the only thing that makes sense.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And just like that this little adventure is over.

_ Fall 2022 _

“You know when I said I wanted drugs for the next one this is  _ not _ what I meant!” Felicity moans in pain as yet another  _ useless _ contraction hits.

“Felicity, the baby is in distress, it’s been over 24 hours. This is the only option,” Dr. Schwartz explains calmly as her team moves around them in a flurry of movement. 

“I know. I know. Do what you have to do, to make sure he’s okay,” Felicity replies exhausted. She looks across at Oliver who is standing by her head looking down at her worriedly. “Hey, I’m gonna be okay. We’re both gonna be okay.”

“I couldn’t live if something were to happen to either of you,” Oliver confesses. 

“It’s a routine procedure, mom and baby are gonna be  _ fine _ .” One of the nurses chimes in as she offers a pair of scrubs to Oliver, “it’s time for Dad to suit up.”

Both Oliver and Felicity share a small laugh at her words, the young woman unaware of the impact of her words. It’s been a  _ long _ time since Oliver has uttered those words.

Oliver takes the scrubs and looks at Felicity concern. She takes his hand, mindful of all the various wires attached to her like she’s one of her servers. “We’ll be here when you get back.”

“ _ You _ better,” Oliver says with conviction he leans down and presses a short kiss on her lips and then places his hand on her bare enlarged stomach. “Already trying to outdo your sister, huh Lucas?”

“Starting the sibling rivalry young,” Felicity says with a weak laugh, as yet another contraction hits.

“Okay, guys we gotta get this ball rolling. Dad time to scrub in and Mom we’re gonna start giving you the good stuff okay?” Dr. Schwartz interrupts them as a nurse steps next to Felicity and starts administering the drugs into her IV drip.

Felicity’s eyes flutter closed as she slowly begins to lose feeling below her torso. She takes a deep breath and she begins to remind herself it's only temporary, only for the surgery nothing more. 

For months she’s been telling both Oliver and their doctor that she wants the epidural for her delivery, and although they briefly discussed cesarean she never once contemplated than not only was it a  _ real  _ possibility but she never considered the fact that she would be awake without any feeling from the waist down. 

The memories of being helpless come flooding back and she tries to remind herself it’s only temporary, it’s for the safety of her son, but she can’t seem to get control of her fears long enough to allow rational thinking.

“Hey, hey I got you. You’re okay.” Oliver’s soothing voice pulls her from her dangerous thoughts and her eyes flutter open to see Oliver by her head holding her hand. “Hey still with me? You can’t miss this.”

“I’m scared,” Felicity whispers softly, she tries to block out the sound of the various monitors beeping around them as the medical staff prep her for surgery. Metal instruments clangs and heighten whispers of medical jargon goes over her head and all she focuses on is her husband’s blue eyes and his fingers that are slowly carding through her damp wet hair.

“You are the strongest person I know. You got this. Lucas will be fine.” Oliver promises. He leans forward and presses his lips against hers, mindful of all the wires attached to her. “I love you.”

“I love you, so, so much.” She whispers back unable to keep the tears at bay. “Are you gonna look?”

“If you didn’t want me to look when Mia was coming out of you, what makes you think I want to look when they slice you open?” Oliver remarks clearly trying to lighten the mood.

“Yea, somehow I don’t think our sex life could handle that,” Felicity jokes weakly.

Oliver is about to respond, but he tears his gaze away from her and peers over the large curtain propped up across her midsection. His jaw drops in surprise, and his eyes fill with tears. Felicity’s heart rate spikes in concern.

“What’s wrong?” Felicity asks helplessly. The sound of a loud powerful cry erupts into the delivery room answering her question.

_ He’s here _ .

“There you go, Mom!” Dr Schwartz declares and before Felicity can blink her squirmy red face baby boy is placed on her chest.

When his little body comes into contact with hers his cries immediately stop, much like Mia’s birth, he recognizes her immediately. 

“Oh my,” Felicity sobs out, she raises her hand and cups the back of his tiny head.

Her  _ son. _

The moment his grey eyes meet hers, she’s suddenly accosted by endless flashes,  _ memories _ from years ago. Eager baby babbles. Sharing a shower with Oliver for the first time covered in  _ pee _ . Having  _ dinner _ with their mothers. Lucas’ laughter. Lucas standing on his own for the first time. Oliver telling her he loved her for the very first time. She remembers  _ all  _ of it. Of  _ him _

_ Lucas _ .

“Oh god. Oh god.  _ Lucas _ . Oliver! It’s  _ Lucas _ .” She sobs out almost hysterical. 

She refuses to pull away from him, almost terrified that he might disappear  _ again _ . But she finally tears her gaze away to look at her husband and Oliver’s face is red and blotchy his own eyes filled with tears and  _ recognition. _

“ _ Lucas _ . He...we...do you remember?” Oliver gasps out, his own hand coming to clasps hers, his eyes never wavering from the newborn on her chest “I don’t understand.”

“ _ Lucas _ was the trigger all along,” Felicity says with a sob, she leans forward and presses a kiss to Lucas’ dirty head, “Baby, I missed you so much.”

“Alright, guys time for us to get this little one cleaned up and for us to finish up with Mom.” One of the nurses calls out before she takes Lucas, much to Felicity’s horror.

“Oliver, go with him please.” Felicity begs and Oliver quickly presses a kiss on her forehead before he follows the nurse into another room.

* * *

Almost an hour later, Felicity rests in recovery, a pillow on her lap as Lucas sleeps soundly. She can’t pick him up but refuses to be apart from him.

Oliver sits on the bed, staring down at Lucas equally enamoured, “I still don’t understand, why do we remember everything so clearly, like it happened yesterday and not 8 years ago?”

“Honey, I’m not a time travel expert,” Felicity says with a laugh, she brushes Lucas blond hair and sighs, “he’s even tinier than I imagined he would be. He doesn’t even have his freckles yet, but look, the little Queen dimple is already there.”

“Amazing,” Oliver says for the millionth time since Lucas was born. He brushes his hand along the sole of the baby’s feet. “He’s so tiny. I remember thinking he could not get smaller. I can’t believe we remember.  _ How? _ ”

“Sara did say we would know when we needed to,” Felicity points out with a yawn. She leans back further into her small nest of pillows, Lucas’ little face scrunches up in displeasure at the sudden movement, but he settles almost immediately.

“I assumed she was full of it and told us what we wanted to hear,” Oliver remarks dryly and Felicity can’t blame him for being upset, she too is upset that 6 weeks of their lives were just  _ taken  _ from them. “She was going to wipe away 6 weeks of our lives anyway.”

“Do you wish she didn’t? That we got to keep those memories?” Felicity asks curiously. The question has been plaguing her mind since their memories returned, other than memorizing every inch of their newborn son. She is grateful to remember those moments, but she’s unsure if she would have taken them back if she could.

“No,” Oliver says immediately, with no remorse or regret, surprising her to say the least.

“Really?” 

“I have nothing to compare it to. I don’t know what our lives would have been like had we known about Lucas from the beginning, but I do know what our lives are like right now, and I would  _ never _ regret the past 8 years with you, the good or the bad.” Oliver replies in earnest. He runs his fingers gently along Lucas back and sighs, “Knowing about Lucas, but not having him there with us, would have been too painful. It might be selfish but I prefer that we wrote our own story, without knowing the outcome. I spent 6 months in jail missing you and our son, I can't imagine spending 8 years missing Lucas. I love our life I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

“ _ Oliver _ ,” Felicity grumbles as she tries to keep her tears at bay, but failing horribly, “I told you last time, no heartfelt speeches. My tear ducts can’t handle it.”

Oliver chuckles and moves to the head of her bed and presses a kiss on her forehead, “I’m sorry. I’ll remember for next time.”

“ _ Next time _ ?”

“I’m here!” 

Oliver is saved from trying to dig himself out of that particular hole when Mia announces her presence as she runs into the hospital room. Sixteen year old William hot on her heels as he scoops Mia up in his arms, “Inside voice, M&M. Remember the babies are sleeping.”

He looks across at Oliver and Felicity and smiles sheepishly, “She’s a  _ ninja _ .”

“I wanna meet my baby!” Mia demands, pushing at William until she slithers out of his arms and she runs to the bed. She stops short though when she sees the sleeping baby resting in her mother’s lap. “Oh.”

Felicity smiles and beconds Mia closer, “Come say hi to your baby brother.”

Mia looks at the sleeping baby, then back at Felicity eagerly, when Felicity nods she climbs onto the bed and sits directly next to Lucas, who is still sleeping away, “he’s so tiny.”

“You were that small too, M&M.” William teases her. He takes a step towards the bed and smiles warmly at Felicity “How are you feeling? Dad said you had to get a…”

He gestures to his stomach and makes a slashing sound, mindful of Mia who is still staring at the baby in awe. Felicity rolls her eyes at his dramatics, “I’m a bit sore, and tired, but okay.”

“I’m not a baby, Will. I’m a big girl!” Mia insists, she glares at her brother then looks down at her baby brother her features softening, “so little.” 

“He is and he’s going to need his big sister to look after him,” Oliver points out, sharing a knowing smile with Felicity.

“Imma do it!” Mia promises, and Felicity eyes fill with tears when Mia leans forward and presses a gentle kiss to Luca’s forehead. “Imma potec him.”

“Protect him,” William corrects. 

“Dats what I say!” Mia scowls back.

Despite their bickering, the baby sleeps on.

Lucas sleeps on.

_ Lucas. _

She can’t believe it. He’s back.

Their son travelled through time.

Except he’s here for good now and they’ve come full circle

_ Lucas is home. _

**THE END**


End file.
